The commercial success of the first LGV, the LGV Sud-Est, led to an expansion of the network to the south (LGV Rhône-Alpes, LGV Méditerranée, Contournement Nîmes – Montpellier), and new lines in the west (LGV Atlantique, LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire and LGV Sud Europe Atlantique), north (LGV Nord and LGV Interconnexion Est), and east (LGV Est). Eager to emulate the TGV's success, neighbouring countries Italy, Spain, and Germany developed their own high-speed rail services. The TGV system itself extends to neighbouring countries, either directly (Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland) or through TGV-derivative networks linking France to Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands (Thalys), as well as France and Belgium to the United Kingdom (Eurostar). Several future lines are planned, including extensions within France and to surrounding countries. Cities such as Tours have become part of a "TGV commuter belt" around Paris. In 2007, the SNCF generated profits of €1.1 billion (approximately US$1.75 billion, £875 million) driven largely by higher margins on the TGV network.[6][7]

The idea of the TGV was first proposed in the 1960s, after Japan had begun construction of the Shinkansen (also known as the "bullet train") in 1959. At the time the Government of France favoured new technology, exploring the production of hovercraft and the Aérotrain air-cushion vehicle. Simultaneously, the SNCF began researching high-speed trains on conventional tracks. In 1976, the administration agreed to fund the first line. By the mid-1990s, the trains were so popular that SNCF President Louis Gallois declared that the TGV was "the train that saved French railways".[8]

It was originally planned that the TGV, then standing for très grande vitesse ("very high speed") or turbine grande vitesse ("high-speed turbine"), would be propelled by gas turbines, selected for their small size, good power-to-weight ratio and ability to deliver high power over an extended period. The first prototype, TGV 001, was the only gas-turbine TGV: following the increase in the price of oil during the 1973 energy crisis, gas turbines were deemed uneconomic and the project turned to electricity from overhead lines, generated by new nuclear power stations.

TGV 001 was not a wasted prototype:[9] its gas turbine was only one of its many new technologies for high-speed rail travel. It also tested high-speed brakes, needed to dissipate the large amount of kinetic energy of a train at high speed, high-speed aerodynamics, and signalling. It was articulated, comprising two adjacent carriages sharing a bogie, allowing free yet controlled motion with respect to one another. It reached 318 km/h (198 mph), which remains the world speed record for a non-electric train. Its interior and exterior were styled by British-born designer Jack Cooper, whose work formed the basis of early TGV designs, including the distinctive nose shape of the first power cars.

Changing the TGV to electric traction required a significant design overhaul. The first electric prototype, nicknamed Zébulon, was completed in 1974, testing features such as innovative body mounting of motors, pantographs, suspension and braking. Body mounting of motors allowed over 3 tonnes to be eliminated from the power cars and greatly reduced the unsprung weight. The prototype travelled almost 1,000,000 km (620,000 mi) during testing.

In 1976 the French administration funded the TGV project, and construction of the LGV Sud-Est, the first high-speed line (French: ligne à grande vitesse), began shortly afterwards. The line was given the designation LN1, Ligne Nouvelle 1 ("New Line 1"). After two pre-production trainsets (nicknamed Patrick and Sophie) had been tested and substantially modified, the first production version was delivered on 25 April 1980.

The TGV opened to the public between Paris and Lyon on 27 September 1981. Contrary to its earlier fast services, SNCF intended TGV service for all types of passengers, with the same initial ticket price as trains on the parallel conventional line. To counteract the popular misconception that the TGV would be a premium service for business travellers, SNCF started a major publicity campaign focusing on the speed, frequency, reservation policy, normal price, and broad accessibility of the service.[10] This commitment to a democratised TGV service was enhanced in the Mitterrand era with the promotional slogan "Progress means nothing unless it is shared by all".[11] The TGV was considerably faster (in terms of door to door travel time) than normal trains, cars, or aeroplanes. The trains became widely popular, the public welcoming fast and practical travel.

The Eurostar service began operation in 1994, connecting continental Europe to London via the Channel Tunnel and the LGV Nord-Europe with a version of the TGV designed for use in the tunnel and the United Kingdom. The first phase of the British High Speed 1 line, or Channel Tunnel Rail Link, was completed in 2003, the second phase in November 2007. The fastest trains take 2 hours 15 minutes London–Paris and 1 hour 51 minutes London–Brussels.

The TGV holds the world speed record for conventional trains. On 3 April 2007 a modified TGV POS train reached 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) under test conditions on the LGV Est between Paris and Strasbourg. The line voltage was boosted to 31 kV, and extra ballast was tamped onto the permanent way. The train beat the 1990 world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph), set by a similarly shortened train (two power cars and three passenger cars), along with unofficial records set during weeks preceding the official record run. The test was part of an extensive research programme by Alstom.[13][14]

In 2007 the TGV was the world's fastest conventional scheduled train: one journey's average start-to-stop speed from Champagne-Ardenne Station to Lorraine Station is 279.3 km/h (173.5 mph).[3][4] This record was surpassed on 26 December 2009 by the new Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway[15] in China where the fastest scheduled train covered 922 km (573 mi) at an average speed of 312.54 km/h (194.20 mph). However, on 1 July 2011 in order to save energy and reduce operating costs the maximum speed of Chinese high-speed trains was reduced to 300 km/h, and the average speed of the fastest trains on the Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway was reduced to 272.68 km/h (169 mph), slower than the TGV.

The fastest long distance run was by a TGV Réseau train from Calais-Frethun to Marseille (1067.2 km, 663 mi) in 3 hours 29 minutes at a speed of 306 km/h (190 mph) for the inauguration of the LGV Méditerranée on 26 May 2001.[17]

TGVs have semi-permanently coupled articulated un-powered coaches, with Jacobs bogies between the coaches supporting both of them. Power cars at each end of the trains have their own bogies. Trains can be lengthened by coupling two TGVs, using couplers hidden in the noses of the power cars. The articulated design is advantageous during a derailment, as the passenger carriages are more likely to stay upright and in line with the track. Normal trains could split at couplings and jackknife, as seen in the Eschede train disaster. A disadvantage is that it is difficult to split sets of carriages. While power cars can be removed from trains by standard uncoupling procedures, specialised depot equipment is needed to split carriages, by lifting the entire train at once. Once uncoupled, one of the carriage ends is left without a bogie at the split, so a bogie frame is required to support it.

Several TGV types have broken records, including the V150 and TGV 001. V150 was a specially modified five-car double-deck trainset that reached 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) under controlled conditions on a test run. It narrowly missed beating the world train speed record of 581 km/h (361 mph).[20] The record-breaking speed is impractical for commercial trains due to motor overcharging, empty train weight, rail and engine wear issues, elimination of all but three coaches, excessive vibration, noise and lack of emergency stopping methods.

TGVs travel at up to 320 km/h (200 mph) in commercial use. All are at least bi-current, which means that they can operate at 25 kV, 50 Hz AC (including LGVs) and at 1.5 kV DC (such as the 1.5 kV lignes classiques south of Paris). Trains to Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands must accommodate other voltages, requiring tri-current and quadri-current TGVs. TGVs have two pairs of pantographs, two for AC use and two for DC. When passing between areas of different supply voltage, marker boards remind the driver to turn off power, lower the pantograph(s), adjust a switch to select the appropriate system, and raise the pantograph(s). Pantographs and pantograph height control are selected automatically based on the voltage system chosen by the driver. Once the train detects the correct supply, a dashboard indicator illuminates and the driver can switch on the traction motors. The train coasts across the boundary between sections.

A TGV Sud-Est set in the original orange livery, since superseded by silver and blue

A TGV Réseau on an enhanced ordinary track

A TGV Réseau second-generation train at Marseille St-Charles

The Sud-Est fleet was built between 1978 and 1988 and operated the first TGV service, from Paris to Lyon in 1981. There are 107 passenger sets, of which nine are tri-current (including 15 kV, 16⅔ Hz AC for use in Switzerland) and the rest bi-current. There are seven bi-current half-sets without seats that carry mail for La Poste between Paris, Lyon and Provence, in a distinctive yellow livery.

Each set is made up of two power cars and eight carriages (capacity 345 seats), including a powered bogie in the carriages adjacent to the power cars. They are 200 m (660 ft) long and 2.81 m (9.2 ft) wide. They weigh 385 tonnes with a power output of 6,450 kW under 25 kV.

The sets were built to run at 270 km/h (170 mph) but most were upgraded to 300 km/h (190 mph) during mid-life refurbishment in preparation for the opening of the LGV Méditerranée. The few sets that still have a maximum speed of 270 km/h operate on those routes that include a comparatively short distance on LGV, such as to Switzerland via Dijon; SNCF did not consider it financially worthwhile to upgrade their speed for a marginal reduction in journey time.

The 105-strong bi-current Atlantique fleet was built between 1988 and 1992 for the opening of the LGV Atlantique and entry into service began in 1989. They are 237.5 m (779 ft) long and 2.9 m (9.5 ft) wide. They weigh 444 tonnes, and are made up of two power cars and ten carriages with a capacity of 485 seats. They were built with a maximum speed of 300 km/h (190 mph) and 8,800 kW of power under 25 kV. The efficiency of the Atlantique with all seats filled has been calculated at 767 PMPG, though with a typical occupancy of 60% it is about 460 PMPG (a Toyota Prius with three passengers is 144 PMPG).[21]

Modified unit 325 set the world speed record in 1990 on the LGV before its opening. Modifications such as improved aerodynamics, larger wheels and improved braking were made to enable speeds of over 500 km/h (310 mph). The set was reduced to two power cars and three carriages to improve the power-to-weight ratio, weighing 250 tonnes. Three carriages, including the bar carriage in the centre, is the minimum possible configuration because of the articulation.

The first Réseau (Network) sets entered service in 1993. Fifty bi-current sets were ordered in 1990, supplemented by 40 tri-current sets in 1992/1993. Ten tri-current sets carry the Thalys livery and are known as Thalys PBA (Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam) sets. As well as using standard French voltages, the tri-current sets can operate under the Netherlands' 1.5 kV and Italian and Belgian 3 kV DC supplies.

They are formed of two power cars (8,800 kW under 25 kV – as TGV Atlantique) and eight carriages, giving a capacity of 377 seats. They have a top speed of 320 km/h. They are 200 m (660 ft) long and are 2.90 m (9.5 ft) wide. The bi-current sets weigh 383 tonnes: owing to axle-load restrictions in Belgium the tri-current sets have a series of modifications, such as the replacement of steel with aluminium and hollow axles, to reduce the weight to under 17 t per axle.

Owing to early complaints of uncomfortable pressure changes when entering tunnels at high speed on the LGV Atlantique, the Réseau sets are now pressure-sealed. They can be coupled to a Duplex set.

Eurostar at London St Pancras. These long trains connect London with Paris and Brussels, are narrower to fit the British loading gauge (this was required when operating out of Waterloo), and have extensive fireproofing.

The Eurostar train is essentially a long TGV,[22] modified for use in the United Kingdom and in the Channel Tunnel. Differences include a smaller cross-section to fit within the constrictive British loading gauge (though High Speed 1 can accommodate Berne gauge traffic, this feature was required when Eurostar trains operated on existing tracks between London Waterloo and the Channel Tunnel), British-designed asynchronous traction motors, and extensive fireproofing in case of fire in the Channel Tunnel. They also have yellow front panels, which are required for all trains operating on track owned by Network Rail or High Speed 1 in the UK.

In the UK they are called Class 373. In the planning stages they were called TransManche Super Train (Cross-channel Super Train). They were built by GEC-Alsthom (now Alstom) in La Rochelle (France), Belfort (France) and Washwood Heath (England), entering service in 1993.

Two types were built: Three Capitals sets, consisting of two power cars and 18 carriages, including two with one powered bogie each; and North of London sets, with 14 carriages. They consist of two identical half-sets that are not articulated in the middle, so that in case of emergency in the Channel Tunnel one half can be uncoupled and leave the tunnel. Each half-set is numbered separately.

The sets operate at a maximum speed of 300km∕h (186 M. P. H.), with the power cars supplying 12,240 kW of power. The Three Capitals sets are 394 m (1,293 ft) long and have 766 seats, weighing 752 tonnes. The North of London sets have 558 seats. All are at least tri-current and are able to operate on 25 kV, 50 Hz AC (on LGVs, including High Speed 1, and on UK overhead electrified lines), 3 kV DC on lignes classiques in Belgium and 750 V DC on the UK former Southern Regionthird rail network. The third-rail equipment became obsolete in 2007 when the second phase of High Speed 1 was brought into use between London and the Channel Tunnel, which uses 25 kV, 50 Hz AC. Five of the Three Capitals sets owned by SNCF are quadri-current and are able to operate on French lignes classiques at 1500 V DC.

The TGV Duplex power cars use a more streamlined nose than previous TGVs

Three of the Three Capitals sets owned by SNCF are in French domestic use and carry the silver and blue TGV livery. The North of London sets, intended to provide Regional Eurostar services from continental Europe to UK cities north of London using the West Coast and East Coast Main Lines, have never seen regular international use: budget airlines in the UK offered lower fares. A few of the sets were leased to GNER for use on some services from London King's Cross to York and Leeds, with two carrying its dark blue livery. The lease ended in December 2005 and a year later the same sets were working SNCF services to Calais in Eurostar livery, albeit with the Eurostar branding and yellow front panels removed.[23][24]

The chief executive of Eurostar, Richard Brown, suggested that the trains could be replaced by double-deck trains similar to the TGV Duplex when they are withdrawn. A double-deck fleet could carry 40 million passengers per year from Britain to Continental Europe, equivalent to adding an extra runway at a London airport.[25]

Eurostar has higher security measures than other TGVs.[26] Luggage is screened and passengers are required to check in 30 minutes before departure. Because the UK is not part of the Schengen Area, and because France and Belgium are not part of the Common Travel Area, passengers are subject to immigration checks. These take place before passengers board the train, so officials from the UK Border Force are stationed in France and Belgium, with their French counterparts stationed in the UK.

The Duplex was built to increase TGV capacity without increasing train length or the number of trains. Each carriage has two levels, with access doors at the lower level taking advantage of low French platforms. A staircase gives access to the upper level, where the gangway between carriages is located. There are 512 seats per set. On busy routes such as Paris-Marseille they are operated in pairs, providing 1,024 seats in two Duplex sets or 800 in a Duplex set plus a Reseau set. Each set has a wheelchair accessible compartment.

After a lengthy development process starting in 1988 (during which they were known as the TGV-2N) the original batch of 30 was built between 1995 and 1998. Further deliveries started in 2000 with the Duplex fleet now totalling 160 units, making it the backbone of the SNCF TGV-fleet. They weigh 380 tonnes and are 200 m (660 ft) long, made up of two power cars and eight carriages. Extensive use of aluminium means that they weigh not much more than the TGV Réseau sets they supplement. The bi-current power cars provide 8,800 kW, and they have a slightly increased speed of 320 km/h (200 mph).

Duplex TGVs are now operating on all of the French high speed lines.[27]

Unlike Thalys PBA sets, the PBKA (Paris-Brussels-Cologne-Amsterdam) sets were built exclusively for Thalys. They are technologically similar to TGV Duplex sets, but single deck. They are quadri-current, operating under 25 kV, 50 Hz AC (LGVs), 15 kV 16⅔ Hz AC (Germany, Switzerland), 3 kV DC (Belgium) and 1.5 kV DC (Dutch and French lignes classiques). Their top speed is 300 km/h (186 mph) under 25 kV, with two power cars supplying 8,800 kW. When operating under 15 kV power output drops to 3,680 kW, resulting in a very poor power-to-weight-ratio on German high-speed lines.[28] They have eight carriages and are 200 m (660 ft) long, weighing a total of 385 tonnes. They have 377 seats.

Seventeen trains were ordered: nine by SNCB/NMBS, six by SNCF and two by NS. Deutsche Bahn contributed to financing two of the SNCB/NMBS sets.

TGV POS (Paris-Ostfrankreich-Süddeutschland or Paris-Eastern France-Southern Germany) are used on the LGV Est.

They consist of two Duplex power cars with eight TGV Réseau-type carriages, with a power output of 9,600 kW and a top speed of 320 km/h (200 mph). Unlike TGV-A, TGV-R and TGV-D, they have asynchronous motors, and isolation of an individual motor is possible in case of failure.

The bi-current 2N2 can be regarded as the fourth generation of Duplex. The series was commissioned from December 2011 for links to Germany and Switzerland (tri-current trains) and to cope with the increased traffic due to the opening of the LGV Rhine-Rhone.

They are numbered from 800, and are limited to 320 km/h (200 mph). ERTMS makes them compatible to allow access to Spain in support Dasye.

Acela Express, a high-speed tilting train built by TGV participant Bombardier for the United States. The Acela uses several TGV technologies including the motors, electrical/drivetrain system (rectifiers, inverters, regenerative braking technology), truck structure and disc brakes, and crash energy management technology to control structural deformations in accidents.[32] However, the Acela's tilting, non-articulated carriages are derived from the Bombardier's Canadian LRC trains and are custom built for U.S. Federal Railroad Administration crash standards.[32]

SNCF and Alstom are investigating new technology that could be used for high-speed transport. The development of TGV trains is being pursued in the form of the Automotrice à grande vitesse (AGV) high-speed multiple unit with motors under each carriage.[35] Investigations are being carried out with the aim of producing trains at the same cost as TGVs with the same safety standards. AGVs of the same length as TGVs could have up to 450 seats. The target speed is 360 kilometres per hour (220 mph). The prototype AGV was unveiled by Alstom on 5 February 2008.[36]

Italian operator NTV is the first customer for the AGV, and intends to become the first open-access high-speed rail operator in Europe, starting operation in 2011.[34]

The next generation of TGVs are being considered with specifications for the new train is due to be finalized by the end of 2017. A detailed design concept will be completed within four years with the aim of introducing the trains into commercial service by mid-2022 with the aim to increase the capacity of TGVs by 10% by replacing the central two power cars of a double TGV with passenger carriages. These carriages would have motorized bogies, as do the first and last carriage of the train, to make up for the lost power. The aim is also to develop a train which reduces the cost of acquisition and operation by 20% and cuts energy consumption by at least 25% with recyclability of more than 90%. Another focus will be improving the passenger environment with modular interiors and improved comfort and connectivity. Due to a change in the French law in 2014, French state-owned companies can now work in collaboration with private sector partners during the design phase of a project in order to minimise costs and a guarantee that it will be awarded a contract when the joint development phase has been completed.[37]

In almost three decades of high-speed operation, the TGV has not recorded a single passenger fatality due to accidents while running at high speed on normal passenger service. There have been several accidents, including three derailments at or above 270 km/h (170 mph), but in only one of these—a test run on a new line—did carriages overturn. This is credited in part to the stiffness that the articulated design lends to the train. There have been fatal accidents involving TGVs on lignes classiques, where the trains are exposed to the same dangers as normal trains, such as level crossings. These include one terrorist bombing, which could as well have occurred at high speed as not.

14 December 1992: TGV 920 from Annecy to Paris, operated by set 56, derailed at 270 km/h (170 mph) at Mâcon-Loché TGV station (Saône-et-Loire). A previous emergency stop had caused a wheel flat; the bogie concerned derailed while crossing the points at the entrance to the station. No one on the train was injured, but 25 passengers waiting on the platform for another TGV were slightly injured by ballast that was thrown up from the trackbed.

21 December 1993: TGV 7150 from Valenciennes to Paris, operated by set 511, derailed at 300 km/h (190 mph) at the site of Haute Picardie TGV station, before it was built. Rain had caused a hole to open up under the track; the hole dated from the First World War but had not been detected during construction. The front power car and four carriages derailed but remained aligned with the track. Of the 200 passengers, one was slightly injured.

5 June 2000: Eurostar 9073 from Paris to London, operated by sets 3101/2 owned by SNCB/NMBS, derailed at 250 km/h (155 mph) in the Nord-Pas de Calais region near Croisilles.[38] The transmission assembly on the rear bogie of the front power car failed, with parts falling onto the track. Four bogies out of 24 derailed. Out of 501 passengers, seven were bruised[39] and others treated for shock.[40]

14 November 2015: TGV 2369 was involved in the Eckwersheim derailment, near Strasbourg, while being tested on the then-unopened second phase of the LGV Est. The derailment resulted in 11 deaths among those aboard, while the 11 others aboard the train were seriously injured[41]. Excessive speed has been cited as the cause.[42]

31 December 1983: A bomb allegedly planted by the terrorist organisation of Carlos the Jackal exploded on board a TGV from Marseille to Paris; two people were killed.

28 September 1988: TGV 736, operated by set 70 "Melun", collided with a lorry carrying an electric transformer weighing 100 tonnes that had become stuck on a level crossing in Voiron, Isère. The vehicle had not obtained the required crossing permit from the French Direction départementale de l'équipement. The weight of the lorry caused a very violent collision; the train driver and a passenger died, and 25 passengers were slightly injured.

4 January 1991: after a brake failure, TGV 360 ran away from Châtillon depot. The train was directed onto an unoccupied track and collided with the car loading ramp at Paris-Vaugirard station at 60 km/h (37 mph). No one was injured. The leading power car and the first two carriages were severely damaged, and were rebuilt.

25 September 1997: TGV 7119 from Paris to Dunkerque, operated by set 502, collided at 130 km/h (81 mph) with a 70 tonne asphalt paving machine on a level crossing at Bierne, near Dunkerque. The power car spun round and fell down an embankment. The front two carriages left the track and came to a stop in woods beside the track. Seven people were injured.

31 October 2001: TGV 8515 from Paris to Irun derailed at 130 km/h (81 mph) near Dax in southwest France. All ten carriages derailed and the rear power unit fell over. The cause was a broken rail.

30 January 2003: a TGV from Dunkerque to Paris collided at 106 km/h (66 mph) with a heavy goods vehicle stuck on the level crossing at Esquelbecq in northern France. The front power car was severely damaged, but only one bogie derailed. Only the driver was slightly injured.

19 December 2007: a TGV from Paris to Geneva collided at about 100 km/h (62 mph) with a truck on a level crossing near Tossiat in eastern France, near the Swiss border. The driver of the truck died; on the train, one person was seriously injured and 24 were slightly injured.[43]

Following the number of accidents at level crossings, an effort has been made to remove all level crossings on lignes classiques used by TGVs. The ligne classique from Tours to Bordeaux at the end of the LGV Atlantique has no level crossings as a result.

The first environmental protests against the building of an LGV occurred in May 1990 during the planning stages of the LGV Méditerranée. Protesters blocked a railway viaduct to protest against the planned route, arguing that it was unnecessary, and that trains could keep using existing lines to reach Marseille from Lyon.[44]

Lyon Turin Ferroviaire (Lyon-Chambéry-Turin), which would connect the TGV network to the Italian TAV network, has been the subject of demonstrations in Italy. While most Italian political parties agree on the construction of this line, some inhabitants of the towns where construction would take place oppose it vehemently.[citation needed] The concerns put forward by the protesters centre on storage of dangerous materials mined during tunnel boring, like asbestos and perhaps uranium, in the open air.[citation needed]. This health danger could be avoided by using more expensive techniques for handling radioactive materials.[citation needed] A six-month delay in the start of construction has been decided in order to study solutions. In addition to the concerns of the residents, RFB – a ten-year-old national movement – opposes the development of Italy's TAVhigh-speed rail network as a whole.[45]

General complaints about the noise of TGVs passing near towns and villages have led the SNCF to build acoustic fencing along large sections of LGV to reduce the disturbance to residents, but protests still take place where SNCF has not addressed the issue.[46]

In addition to its standard services, TGV also provides mail and "low cost" travel services

For many years, a service termed SNCF TGV La Poste has been transporting mail for the French mail service, La Poste. It uses windowless but otherwise standard TGV rolling stock, painted in the yellow and blue livery of La Poste

In 2013 a new "low cost" TGV service was created by the SNCF. It was called Ouigo and was designed to mimic and challenge low cost airline services.

1.
Ouigo
–
Ouigo is a French low-cost train service based at Marne-la-Vallée offering services to the north, the north-west and the south-east of France. It is a subsidiary of the French national rail company SNCF, the service was announced in by the head of SNCF, Guillaume Pepy on 19 February 2013, and it launched services on 2 April that year. Unlike Europes relatively liberalized airline market, high speed railways in France are a monopoly owned and operated by the government. However ongoing talks about high speed railways liberalization, targeted for as early as December 2019 and they must be purchased at least 4 hours in advance of the journey. Four days before travel, they receive an e-mail of the ticket which they may print out at home. Since October 2013, customers can book tickets via the non-affiliated booking agent Captaine Train. Ouigo uses modified double-decker TGV Duplex trains, which are single 2nd class made up of either 2x2 or 3x1 abreast and this leads to the train carrying up 1200 passengers, which is 20% more passengers than regular TGV Duplex trains. Similar to some low cost airlines, whilst a piece of luggage is allowed free of charge. The trains carry fewer members of staff, which like the low-cost carriers are tasked as well to do basic maintenance of the train as well as serving passengers. The company sweats its assets by using the trains for up to 13 hours a day, like some low-cost air carriers, the only way customers can contact the company is via their website. There is no customer service number or e-mail address. Ouigo offers trains stopping at a number of stations, unlike standard TGV services, and in order to offer lower fares, the company uses non-major stations for main destinations such as Paris or Lyon. In order to significantly lower prices than on standard TGV trains, Ouigo trains lack a buffet car, have a greater number of more tightly packed seats. Adult fares can vary from as little as €10 to a maximum of €115 per journey depending on the time of the journey, supplementary fees are as follows, Children that are 11 or under, a flat fee of €5 is charged no matter the journey. Baggage is €5 if booked at the time of booking, €10 prior to travelling on-line, pets can be taken on board, however provided that they are under six kilos and they are in the carry case as part of the hand luggage they travel free. If not, they are charged a fee of €40 per animal, seats next to plug sockets can be reserved for a supplementary fee of €2 per person. So far reactions to the service have been mixed, in the few months between announcement to the commencing of journeys, Ouigo has sold 200,000 tickets and its website has been visited by over 2 million times. In the first few months, Ouigo sent passengers a short questionnaire after each trip, the survey also reported that about 90% of passengers would recommend Ouigo to a friend or family member

2.
LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire
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The LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire is a high-speed rail line under construction, running between Connerré and Cesson-Sévigné, in France. Scheduled to be complete in late 2017, it will be serviced by TGV trains operated by SNCF, the total cost is put at €3. 4bn, with funding agreed on 29 July 2008 between the various bodies involved. The French government will contribute €990m, equal to contributions from local government, the remaining €1. 02bn comes from RFF. On 18 January 2011, it was announced that Eiffage had won, Eiffage, the funding agreement was signed on 12 July 2011. At this time, preliminary studies were scheduled to take place between May 2011 and July 2012, with construction starting during the autumn of 2012, the line begins as an extension of the LGV Atlantique western branch near Connerré. After a connection north of Le Mans, the LGV dips towards the southwest with a connection to the regular Le Mans-Angers line near Sablé-sur-Sarthe, the connection, at a length of 32 km, from Sablé-sur-Sarthe will slightly speed up the journey to Nantes. The line then rises to pass north of Laval and re-join the regular ligne at Cesson-Sévigné, the total length of the route is roughly 214 km of which 182 km will be high speed. The journey time for Paris to Brest and Quimper would have been 3 hours

3.
High-speed rail in France
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The first French high-speed rail line opened in 1981, between Pariss and Lyons suburbs. It was at time the only high-speed rail line in Europe. As of December 2014, the French high-speed rail network comprises 2,037 km of Lignes à grande vitesse, in 1976, the government agreed to fund the first line. The LGV opened to the public between Paris and Lyon on 27 September 1981, high-speed lines based on LGV technology connecting with the French network have been built in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The newest high-speed lines allow speeds of 320 km/h in normal operation, originally LGVs were defined as lines permitting speeds greater than 200 km/h, revised to 250 km/h. Like most high-speed trains in Europe, TGVs also run on tracks, at the normal maximum speed for those lines. TGV track construction has a few key differences from normal railway lines, the radii of curves are larger so that trains can traverse them at higher speeds without increasing the centripetal acceleration felt by passengers. The radii of LGV curves have historically been greater than 4 km, LGVs can incorporate steeper gradients than normal. This facilitates planning and reduces their cost of construction, the high power/weight and adhesive weight/total weight ratios of TGVs allow them to climb much steeper grades than conventional trains. The considerable momentum at high speeds also helps to climb these slopes very quickly without greatly increasing energy consumption, the Paris-Sud-Est LGV has grades of up to 3. 5%. On a high-speed line it is possible to have greater superelevation, since all trains are travelling at the same speed, curve radii in high-speed lines have to be large, but increasing the superelevation allows for tighter curves while supporting the same train speed. Allowance for tighter curves can reduce costs by reducing the number and/or length of tunnels or viaducts. Track alignment is more precise than on railway lines, and ballast is in a deeper-than-normal profile, resulting in increased load-bearing capacity. Heavy rail is used and the rails are more upright, with an inclination of 1 in 40 as opposed to 1 in 20 on normal lines. Use of continuously welded rails in place of shorter, jointed rails yields a comfortable ride at high speed, the points/switches are different from those on the lignes classiques. Every LGV set of points incorporates a swingnose crossing, which eliminates the gap in support that causes shock. Eliminating these gaps makes the passage of a TGV over LGV switches imperceptible to passengers, reduces stresses on wheels and track, the diameter of tunnels is greater than normally required by the size of the trains, especially at entrances. This limits the effects of air pressure changes and noise pollution such as tunnel boom, LGVs are reserved primarily for TGVs

4.
High-speed rail in Belgium
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Belgiums high-speed rail network provides mostly international connections from Brussels to France, Germany and The Netherlands. Four high-speed train services operate in Belgium, Thalys, Eurostar, InterCityExpress. All operators stop in Brussels-South railway station, Belgiums largest train station, some services also stop in Liège and Antwerp. Eurostar connects Brussels to London St Pancras, the German ICE operates between Brussels-South, Liège-Guillemins railway station and Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof via Köln. There are three high-speed lines in Belgium which support 300 km/h operation, and one that supports speeds up to 260 km/h, all are electrified at 25 kV AC,50 Hz, unlike most of the rest of the network which uses 3 kV DC. HSL1 connects Brussels with the French border,88 km long, it began service on 14 December 1997. The line has appreciably shortened rail journeys, the journey from Paris to Brussels now taking 1,22. In combination with the LGV Nord, it has also impacted international journeys to France and London, ensuring high-speed through-running by Eurostar, TGV, Thalys PBA, the total construction cost was €1.42 billion. HSL2 runs between Leuven and Ans.95 km long it began service on 15 December 2002, combined with HSL3 to the German border, the combined eastward high speed lines have greatly accelerated journeys between Brussels, Paris and Germany. HSL2 is used by Thalys and ICE trains as well as fast internal InterCity services, HSL3 connects Liège to the German border. 56 km long, it was completed on 15 December 2007, HSL3 is used by international Thalys and ICE trains only, as opposed to HSL2 which is also used for fast internal InterCity services. HSL4 connects Antwerp north to the Dutch border where it meets the HSL-Zuid and it is 87 km long, comprising 40 km dedicated high speed tracks and 57 km modernised lines. Mostly completed in 2007, the opening of the line was delayed till December 2009 due to problems with signalling, HSL4 is used by Thalys trains and fast internal InterCity and NS Hispeed train service is planned for 2012. Between Brussels and Antwerp, trains travel at 160 km/h on the existing line. At the E19/A12 motorway junction, trains leave the line to run on new dedicated high-speed tracks to the Dutch border at 300 km/h. 25N, which is part of the Diabolo project, is being built between Schaarbeek and Mechelen and is being constructed for a speed of 220 km/h. There is also a project under way to renovate Mechelen railway station, when this line is completed, there will be a near-continuous stretch of high-speed line from Brussels to Amsterdam, save for the section between Mechelen and Antwerp. It is not known whether the Belgian government plans to construct a line between Mechelen and Antwerp, the track around Rotterdam station has curvatures that are too tight to allow trains to run at full speed and trains run on conventional track between Schiphol and Amsterdam

5.
Rail transport in Luxembourg
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The Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois is the national railway company of Luxembourg. In 2013, it carried approximately 20.7 million passengers and 804 million tonnes kilometers of goods, the company employs 3,090 people, making CFL the countrys seventh-largest corporate employer. The Luxembourg rail system comprises 275 route-kilometres, of which 140 km is double track and 135 km single track, of the total track length of 617 km,574 km are electrified. The majority of the track is operated at 25 kV,50 Hz. Luxembourg borders Belgium, France and Germany, correspondingly, there are cross-border services into these countries. Some are wholly run by CFL, whereas others are run by SNCF, NMBS/SNCB, CFL passenger trains cover the majority of the network. CFL operates the majority of its passenger trains using EMUs and electric locomotives with push-pull stock, the company also has a fleet of diesel locomotives for hauling freight trains and for general shunting purposes. Luxembourg is a member of the International Union of Railways, the UIC Country Code for Luxembourg is 82. CFL is the result of a nationalisation of private companies in 1946. Passenger kilometers on CFL-trains for each fiscal year ), CFL owns a relatively modern fleet of passenger trains, with a majority of double-decker trains. Nearly all routes are operated with electric trains

6.
High-speed rail in Germany
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Construction of the first German high-speed rail lines began shortly after that of the French LGVs. However, legal battles caused significent delays, so that the German InterCityExpress trains were deployed ten years after the TGV network was established. The ICE network is more integrated with pre-existing lines and trains as a result of the different settlement structure in Germany. ICE trains reached destinations in Austria and Switzerland soon after they entered service, starting in 2000, multisystem third-generation ICE trains entered the Netherlands and Belgium. The third generation of the ICE has a speed of 330 km/h and has reached speeds up to 363 km/h. Admission of ICE trains onto French LGVs was applied for in 2001, since June 2007, ICEs service Paris from Frankfurt and Saarbrücken via the LGV Est. Unlike the TGV in France or Shinkansen in Japan, Germany has experienced an accident on a high-speed service. In the Eschede train disaster of 1998, a first generation ICE experienced catastrophic wheel failure while travelling at 200 km/h near Eschede, of 287 passengers aboard,101 people died and 88 were injured in the resulting derailment. The accident was the result of faulty design and, following the crash. Thalys trains began running in Germany in 1997, from the Belgian HSL3 to Aachen, TGV POS trains began running in Germany in 2007, to Karlsruhe and Stuttgart using the Mannheim–Stuttgart and Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed lines. Germany has developed the Transrapid, a levitation train system. The Transrapid reaches speeds up to 550 km/h, a test track with a total length of 31.5 km operated in Emsland until Early 2012, when it was closed and dismantled. In China, Shanghai Maglev Train, a Transrapid technology based maglev built in collaboration with Siemens, Germany, has been operational since March 2004

7.
High-speed rail in Italy
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High-speed rail in Italy consists of two lines connecting most of the countrys major cities. The first line connects Turin to Salerno via Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples, the runs from Turin to Venice via Milan. Trains are operated with a top speed of 300 km/h,25 million passengers traveled on the network in 2011. Passenger service is provided by Trenitalia and, since April 2012, by NTV-Italo, the first high-speed rail route in Italy, the Direttissima, opened in 1977, connecting Rome with Florence. The top speed on the line was 250 km/h, giving an end-to-end journey time of about 90 minutes with an speed of 200 km/h. This line used a 3 kV DC supply, high-speed service was introduced on the Rome-Milan line in 1988-89 with the ETR450 Pendolino train, with a top speed of 250 km/h and cutting travel times from about 5 hours to 4. The prototype train ETR X500 was the first Italian train to reach 300 km/h on the Direttissima on 25 May 1989, the Italian high-speed rail projects suffered relevant extra-costs and delay. Corruption and un-ethical behaviour played a key role, service on the high speed lines is provided by Trenitalia and privately owned NTV. It operates mainly on lines, AGV575, speeds up to 360 km/h, operated by NTV as Italo, ETR1000, operated by Trenitalia. Maximum speed of these trainsets is currently limited at 300 km/h while tracks are pending certification for 360 km/h operations, current limitations on the tracks set at 300 km/h the maximum operating speed of the trains. Along with the development of ETR1000 by AnsaldoBreda and Bombardier Transportation, secondary stock, ETR460, ETR485, tilting, speeds up to 250 km/h for other services, operated by Trenitalia. ETR470, tilting, speeds up to 250 km/h, operated by Trenitalia on services between Italy and Switzerland, new Pendolino ETR610 are being introduced to the Italy-Switzerland route. TGV trains also run on the Paris-Turin-Milan service, but do not use any high-speed line in Italy, the following high-speed rail lines are in use. The table shows minimum and maximum travel times, the Milan to Salerno is the major north-south corridor of the high-speed network. The Milan–Bologna segment opened on 13 December 2008 and its construction cost was about 6.9 billion euro. The 182 km line runs parallel to the Autostrada del Sole, there are eight connections with historic lines. At the Reggio Emilia interconnection a new designed by the Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava was opened in June 2013. Calatrava has also designed a bridge where the line crosses the A1 motorway

8.
AVE
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Ave is a Latin word, used by the Romans as a salutation and greeting, meaning hail. It is the imperative form of the verb avēre, which meant to be well. The Classical Latin pronunciation of ave was or, in Church Latin, it is ideally, and in English, it tends to be pronounced /ˈɑːveɪ/. The term was used to greet the Caesar or other authorities. Suetonius recorded that on one occasion, naumachiarii—captives and criminals fated to die fighting during mock naval encounters—addressed Caesar with the words Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant. in an attempt to avoid death. The expression is not recorded as being used in Roman times on any other occasion, the Vulgate version of the Annunciation translates the salute of the angel to Mary, Mother of Jesus as Ave Maria, gratia plena. Ave Maria is a Catholic Marian prayer that also has inspired authors of religious music, within Satanism, the phrase Ave Satana is used, along with its more popular English translation Hail Satan. Fascist regimes during the 20th century also adopted the greeting and it was also distinctly used during the National Socialist Third Reich in the indirect German translation, heil. Roman salute Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant

9.
High-speed rail in the Netherlands
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The Netherlands is connected to the European high-speed rail network with one dedicated high-speed line, HSL-Zuid, and improved traditional rail. Plans for a second dedicated high-speed line, HSL-Oost, have been cancelled, three high-speed train services have operated in the Netherlands, Thalys, InterCityExpress, and Fyra. Thalys started operating on the HSL-Zuid on 13 December 2009, HSL-Zuid is a 125 km high-speed railway line in the Netherlands. Using existing tracks from Amsterdam Centraal to Schiphol Airport, the dedicated high-speed line begins here and continues to Rotterdam Centraal, here, it connects to the HSL4, terminating at Antwerpen-Centraal. Den Haag Centraal and Breda are connected to the line by conventional railway lines. Services running at 160 km/h on the HSL-Zuid began on 7 September 2009 between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, from December 2009, Thalys trains from Amsterdam to Brussels and Paris have run on HSL-Zuid. From December 2012 to January 2013 the Fyra V250 trains ran on HSL-Zuid between Amsterdam and Brussels, only to have service suspended because of the quality of the Italian-made trains. The HSL-Zuid serves the stations, Amsterdam Centraal Schiphol Rotterdam Centraal Between Rotterdam. Hanzelijn is a 50 km high-speed railway line in the Netherlands, the maximum speed on the line is 200 km/h, though no Dutch domestic rolling stock can achieve speeds greater than 160 km/h. Only by clearing the line for International trains is the speed of 200 km/h reached. HSL-Oost is the name of a proposed high-speed line from Amsterdam into Germany via the Dutch cities of Utrecht and Arnhem. The scope of the project has now reduced, but it is expected that German ICE trains will be able to travel at 200 km/h from Amsterdam to Utrecht in the near future. Currently, ERTMS has been installed on the line, but the soil is soft, in 2009, a new feasibility study for the HSL-Oost after the year 2020 was promised by Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management Camiel Eurlings

10.
Track gauge
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In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide

11.
Standard gauge
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The standard gauge is a widely used railway track gauge. Approximately 55% of the lines in the world are this gauge, all high-speed rail lines, except those in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Finland, are standard gauge. The distance between the edges of the rails is defined to be 1435 mm except in the United States. It is also called the UIC gauge or UIC track gauge, as railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge to be used. The result was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a gauge of 1435 mm. In North East England, some lines in colliery areas were 4 ft 8 in. All these lines had been widened to standard gauge by 1846, parts of the United States, mainly in the Northeast, adopted the same gauge, because some early trains were purchased from Britain. However, until well into the half of the 19th century, Britain. The American gauges converged as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent, notably, all the 5 ft broad gauge track in the South was converted to standard gauge over the course of two days beginning on 31 May 1886. See Track gauge in the United States, snopes categorized this legend as false, but commented that. It is perhaps more fairly labelled as True, but for trivial, the historical tendency to place the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles approximately 5 feet apart probably derives from the width needed to fit a carthorse in between the shafts. Others were 4 ft 4 in or 4 ft 7 1⁄2 in, the English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for the coal mines of County Durham. He favoured 4 ft 8 in for wagonways in Northumberland and Durham, the Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge. Stephensons Stockton and Darlington railway was primarily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stockton-on-Tees. The initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge, George Stephenson used the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, authorised in 1826 and opened 30 September 1830. The success of this led to Stephenson and his son Robert being employed to engineer several other larger railway projects. Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, authorised 1824 and opened 1825, used 4 ft 6 in, Dundee and Newtyle Railway, authorised 1829 and opened 1831, used 4 ft 6 1⁄2 in

12.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks

13.
High-speed rail
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High-speed rail is a type of rail transport that operates significantly faster than traditional rail traffic, using an integrated system of specialized rolling stock and dedicated tracks. The first such system began operations in Japan in 1964 and was known as the bullet train. High-speed trains normally operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated right-of-way that incorporates a large turning radius in its design, only in Europe does HSR cross international borders. China has 22,000 kilometres of HSR as of end December 2016, while high-speed rail is most often designed for passenger travel, some high-speed systems also offer freight service. Multiple definitions for high-speed rail are in use worldwide, the European Union Directive 96/48/EC, Annex 1 defines high-speed rail in terms of, Infrastructure, track built specially for high-speed travel or specially upgraded for high-speed travel. Minimum Speed Limit, Minimum speed of 250 km/h on lines built for high speed. This must apply to at least one section of the line, Rolling stock must be able to reach a speed of at least 200 km/h to be considered high speed. Operating conditions, Rolling stock must be designed alongside its infrastructure for complete compatibility, safety and quality of service, category II – Existing tracks specially upgraded for high speeds, allowing a maximum running speed of at least 200 km/h. Category III – Existing tracks specially upgraded for high speeds, allowing a maximum running speed of at least 200 km/h, the UIC prefers to use definitions because they consider that there is no single standard definition of high-speed rail, nor even standard usage of the terms. They make use of the European EC Directive 96/48, stating that high speed is a combination of all the elements which constitute the system, infrastructure, rolling stock and operating conditions. The International Union of Railways states that high-speed rail is a set of unique features, many conventionally hauled trains are able to reach 200 km/h in commercial service but are not considered to be high-speed trains. These include the French SNCF Intercités and German DB IC, National domestic standards may vary from the international ones. Railways were the first form of land transportation and had an effective monopoly on passenger traffic until the development of the motor car. Speed had always been an important factor for railroads and they tried to achieve higher speeds. The line used three-phase current at 10 kilovolts and 45 Hz, on 23 October 1903, the S&H-equipped railcar achieved a speed of 206.7 km/h and on 27 October the AEG-equipped railcar achieved 210.2 km/h. These trains demonstrated the feasibility of electric high-speed rail, however, after the breakthrough of electric railroads, it was clearly the infrastructure – especially the cost of it – which hampered the introduction of high-speed rail. Several disasters happened – derailments, head-on collisions on single-track lines, collisions with traffic at grade crossings. The physical laws were well-known, i. e. if the speed was doubled, the radius should be quadrupled

14.
SNCF
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SNCF is Frances national state-owned railway company and manages the rail traffic in France and the Principality of Monaco. SNCF operates the national rail services, including the TGV. Its functions include operation of services for passengers and freight. SNCF employs more than 180,000 people in 120 countries around the globe, the railway network consists of about 32,000 km of route, of which 1,800 km are high-speed lines and 14,500 km electrified. About 14,000 trains are operated daily, since July 2013, SNCF headquarters are located in a Parisian suburb at 2, place aux Étoiles,93200 Saint Denis. In 2010 SNCF was ranked 22nd in France and 214th globally on the Fortune Global 500 list and it is the main business of the SNCF group, which in 2014 employed 245,763 people and had €27.2 billion of sales in 120 countries. The chairman of the SNCF group is Guillaume Pépy, SNCF operates almost all of Frances railway system, including the TGV, In the 1970s, SNCF began the TGV high-speed train programme with the intention of creating the worlds fastest railway network. It came to fruition in 1981, when the first TGV service, today, SNCF operates 1,850 km of designated high-speed track that accommodate more than 800 high-speed services per day. SNCF’s TGV trains carry more than 100 million passengers a year, TGV lines and TGV technology are now spread across several European countries in addition to South Korea.8 km/h. SNCF has a safety record. After nearly 30 years in operation, SNCF’s TGV system has experienced one fatal accident. SNCF also owns the tracks and the stations, since the 1990s, SNCF has been selling railway carriages to regional governments, with the creation of the Train Express Régional brand. SNCF also maintains a broad scope of business that includes work on freight lines, inter-city lines. SNCF experts provide logistics, design, construction, operations and maintenance services, SNCF operates the international ticketing agency, Voyages SNCF. SNCF has employees in 120 countries offering extensive overseas and cross border consulting and those projects include, Israel, Assistance and Training. SNCF International provides assistance to Israel Railways in every area of operations including projects to upgrade the networks general safety regulations. Other assistance and training programmes involve Infrastructure and the Traction Division, SNCF supervised the prime contractor responsible for construction of the Taiwan Railways Administration’s main high-speed rail line. It also trained rail traffic controllers, drivers, and crew members, on behalf of the Government of Taiwan, SNCF managed the high-speed railway Command Control Centre

15.
Rail transport operations
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A railway has two major components, the rolling stock and the infrastructure. The operation of the railway is through a system of control, originally by mechanical means, signalling systems used to control the movement of traffic may be either of fixed block or moving block variety. Fixed block signalling Most blocks are fixed blocks, i. e. they delineate a section of track between two defined points, on timetable, train order, and token-based systems, blocks usually start and end at selected stations. On signalling-based systems, blocks start and end at signals. Alternatively, cab signalling may be in use, the lengths of blocks are designed to allow trains to operate as frequently as necessary. A lightly used line might have blocks many kilometres long. Moving block signalling A disadvantage of fixed blocks is that the trains are permitted to run, the longer the stopping distance. With moving block, computers are used to calculate a safe zone, behind each moving train, the system depends on precise knowledge of where each train is and how fast it is moving. With moving block, lineside signals are not provided, and instructions are passed direct to the trains and it has the advantage of increasing track capacity by allowing trains to run much closer together. Most rail systems serve a number of functions on the track, carrying local, long distance and commuter passenger trains. The emphasis on each varies by country, some urban rail transit, rapid transit and light rail systems are isolated from the national system in the cities they serve. Some freight lines serving mines are also isolated, and these are owned by the mine company. An industrial railway is a rail system used inside factories or mines. Steep grade railways are isolated, with special safety systems. The permanent way trails through the physical geography, the tracks geometry is limited by the physical geography. Trains are pushed/pulled by one or more locomotive units, two or more locomotives coupled in multiple traction are frequently used in freight trains. Railroad cars or rolling stock consist of cars, freight cars, maintenance cars. Modern passenger trains sometimes are pushed/pulled by a tail and head unit, many passenger trains consist of multiple units with motors mounted beneath the passenger cars

16.
Alstom
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A merger with parts of the General Electric Company plc formed GEC-Alstom in 1989, the company became Alstom in 1998. In 2014, Alstom and General Electric announced that a US$17 billion bid for the power and grid divisions had been made. The GE acquisition deal for the power and grid division was accepted by EU and US anticompetition authorities in mid 2015, in 1932, Alsthom expanded into transportation by acquiring Constructions Electriques de France, Tarbes, a manufacturer of electric locomotives as well as electrical and hydraulic equipment. In 1969, Compagnie Générale dElectricité became the majority shareholder of Alsthom, in 1976, Alsthom merged with Chantiers de lAtlantique, becoming Alsthom Atlantique. Thus, the business expanded into marine, the next year, it constructed the first 1300 MW generator set for the Paluel power station, setting a world record with an output of 1500 MW. In 1978, Alsthom delivered its first TGV to SNCF, the TGV went on to break world rail speed records in 1981 and in 1990. It also set the endurance record for high-speed train lines in 2001. In 1986, Alsthom Belfort received an order from EDF for the largest gas turbine in the world, in 1988–89, holding company CGEE Alstom acquired ACEC Energie and ACEC Automatisme from the dissolution of Belgian electrical engineering company ACEC SA. Alstom acquired 100% of ACECs transport division, renaming it ACEC Transport, in 1991, Alstoms parent company CGE was renamed Alcatel Alsthom Compagnie Générale dElectricité, or Alcatel Alsthom for short. In 1994, GEC Alsthom acquired the vehicle manufacturer Linke-Hofmann-Busch from Salzgitter AG. In 1995, the acquired the remaining shares in the steam turbine manufacturer MAN Energie. In early 1998, GEC Alsthom acquired the electrical contractor Cegelec, in 1998, GEC-Alsthom bought Italian firm SASIB SpAs rail signalling subsidiary Sasib Railways, which included the former General Railway Signal. In June 1998, GEC Alsthom was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, GEC, at the same time, the company name was changed to Alstom. In 1999, Alstoms energy division merged with ABB in a 50–50 joint company known as ABB Alstom Power, Alstom also bought Canadas Télécité, a passenger information and security solutions company, and sold its heavy-duty gas turbine business to General Electric. The next year, it bought out ABBs share in ABB Alstom Power, in 2000, Alstom sold its diesel engine businesses to MAN Group. It also acquired a 51% stake in Fiat Ferroviaria, the Italian rail manufacturer, in April 2003, Alstom sold its industrial turbine business to Siemens for €1.1 billion. By 2003, Alstom was facing a crisis due to poor sales and over $5 billion of debt liabilities. Alstoms share price had dropped 90% over two years, in 2004, the French state took a 21% stake in Alstom and received an EU-approved French government bailout worth €2.5 billion

17.
Turbotrain
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The Turbotrain was any of several French high-speed, gas turbine trains. The earliest Turbotrain entered service in 1967, for use on Frances SNCF intercity lines, there were several versions, four in total, with the last exiting service in 2005, and it is the Turbotrain that made advances possible for the TGV. In 1967, the SNCF converted a 2-car X4300 Class diesel multiple unit originally built by ANF Industrie starting in 1963. The new gas-turbine engine was installed into the car of this 2-car set. Trials started on 25 April 1967, the TGS reached 252 km/h on 15 October 1971. This is the first-generation of production Turbotrains and these ETG trains were four carriage trainsets which offered 188 seats and possessed one diesel engine and one gas turbine engine. The gas-turbine engine was a 820 kW Turbomeca Turmo IIIF3 gas-turbine Voith hydraulic, the ETGs entered service in 1971 on the Paris-Caen-Cherbourg. A total of 14 of these trainsets were manufactured from 1969-1972 by ANF. These trains were maintained at the Venissieux trainshed in Lyon for many years, electrification of the Grenoble line caused some trainsets to be shifted to work in Clermont Ferrand and Metz. These trains had five carriages with 280 seats and were built between 1972 and 1976 by ANF and MTE, forty-one RTG trainsets were manufactured for SNCF service. These trains were equipped with one 820 kW Turmo IIIF1 gas turbine in the cabs and one Turmo XII1,200 kW gas turbine in the odd-numbered cabs. Normally, the even-numbered 820 kW engine was shut down once the train reached cruising speeds, the RTG entered service in 1973 on the Strasbourg-Lyon and Lyon-Nantes lines, it subsequently entered service on the Paris-Caen-Cherbourg and Paris-Deauville-Dives-Cabourg lines in 1975. In later years, the SNCF RTG trainsets were modified to allow two RTG trains to be operated together by one driver as a multiple-unit train, six examples of the RTG were built by ANF for Amtrak and were dubbed Turboliners in the United States. The Egyptian National Railways purchased three enlarged 10-car turbotrains manufactured by ANF for a planned 160 km/h service on the 208 km route between Cairo and Alexandria. However, the trackage is not suitable for such speeds, four units of Turbotrains were introduced in Iran in 1974 with max speed of 160 km/h between Tehran-Mashhad that later in 2008 were converted to DMU by substitution of diesel instead of turbines. This experimental Turbotrain TGV001 set the speed record for gas turbine-powered rail vehicles with 318 km/h on 8 December 1972. The electrification in 1996 of the Paris-Caen-Cherbourg line moved the RTGs onto the Lyon-Bordeaux until 2005 and this TGV001 was a five-car trainset which possessed four gas-turbine engines with a total output of 6,500 hp and all axles motored. This train was tested over more than 34,000 miles running at over 200 km/h, of which almost half were covered at more than 257 km/h

18.
Gas turbine
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A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a turbine. The basic operation of the gas turbine is similar to that of the power plant except that the working fluid is air instead of water. Fresh atmospheric air flows through a compressor that brings it to higher pressure, energy is then added by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so the combustion generates a high-temperature flow. This high-temperature high-pressure gas enters a turbine, where it expands down to the exhaust pressure, the turbine shaft work is used to drive the compressor and other devices such as an electric generator that may be coupled to the shaft. The energy that is not used for shaft work comes out in the exhaust gases, the purpose of the gas turbine determines the design so that the most desirable energy form is maximized. Gas turbines are used to power aircraft, trains, ships, electrical generators,50, Heros Engine — Apparently, Heros steam engine was taken to be no more than a toy, and thus its full potential not realized for centuries. 1000, The Trotting Horse Lamp was used by the Chinese at lantern fairs as early as the Northern Song dynasty. When the lamp is lit, the heated airflow rises and drives an impeller with horse-riding figures attached on it,1629, Jets of steam rotated an impulse turbine that then drove a working stamping mill by means of a bevel gear, developed by Giovanni Branca. 1678, Ferdinand Verbiest built a model carriage relying on a jet for power. 1791, A patent was given to John Barber, an Englishman and his invention had most of the elements present in the modern day gas turbines. The turbine was designed to power a horseless carriage,1861, British patent no.1633 was granted to Marc Antoine Francois Mennons for a Caloric engine. The patent shows that it was a gas turbine and the show it applied to a locomotive. Also named in the patent was Nicolas de Telescheff, a Russian aviation pioneer,1872, A gas turbine engine was designed by Franz Stolze, but the engine never ran under its own power. 1894, Sir Charles Parsons patented the idea of propelling a ship with a turbine, and built a demonstration vessel. This principle of propulsion is still of some use,1895, Three 4-ton 100 kW Parsons radial flow generators were installed in Cambridge Power Station, and used to power the first electric street lighting scheme in the city. 1899, Charles Gordon Curtis patented the first gas engine in the USA. 1900, Sanford Alexander Moss submitted a thesis on gas turbines, in 1903, Moss became an engineer for General Electrics Steam Turbine Department in Lynn, Massachusetts

19.
1973 oil crisis
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The 1973 oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo occurred in response to United States support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, by the end of the embargo in March 1974, the price of oil had risen from US$3 per barrel to nearly $12 globally, US prices were significantly higher. The embargo caused an oil crisis, or shock, with many short- and long-term effects on global politics and it was later called the first oil shock, followed by the 1979 oil crisis, termed the second oil shock. The embargo was a response to American involvement in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, six days after Egypt and Syria launched a surprise military campaign against Israel, the US supplied Israel with arms. In response to this, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries announced an oil embargo against Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the crisis had a major impact on international relations and created a rift within NATO. Some European nations and Japan sought to disassociate themselves from United States foreign policy in the Middle East to avoid being targeted by the boycott, Arab oil producers linked any future policy changes to peace between the belligerents. To address this, the Nixon Administration began multilateral negotiations with the combatants and they arranged for Israel to pull back from the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. By January 18,1974, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had negotiated an Israeli troop withdrawal from parts of the Sinai Peninsula, the promise of a negotiated settlement between Israel and Syria was enough to convince Arab oil producers to lift the embargo in March 1974. The embargo occurred at a time of rising petroleum consumption by industrialized countries and coincided with an increase in oil imports by the worlds largest oil consumer. In the aftermath, targeted countries initiated a variety of policies to contain their future dependency. The 1973 oil price shock, with the accompanying 1973–74 stock market crash, was regarded as the first discrete event since the Great Depression to have a persistent effect on the US economy, the embargos success demonstrated Saudi Arabias diplomatic and economic power. It was the largest oil exporter and a politically and religiously conservative kingdom, in 1970, US oil production started to decline, exacerbating the embargos impact. Following this, Nixon named James E. Akins as US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia to audit US production capacity, the confidential results were alarming—no spare capacity was available and production could only decrease. The oil embargo had little effect on supply, according to Akins. OPEC was organized to resist pressure by the Seven Sisters to reduce oil prices, at first, OPEC operated as an informal bargaining unit for resource-rich third-world countries. OPEC confined its activities to gaining a share of the profits generated by oil companies. In the early 1970s it began to exert economic and political strength, on August 15,1971, the United States unilaterally pulled out of the Bretton Woods Accord. The US abandoned the Gold Exchange Standard whereby the value of the dollar had been pegged to the price of gold and all other currencies were pegged to the dollar, shortly thereafter, Britain followed, floating the pound sterling

20.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town

21.
Lyon
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Lyon or Lyons is a city in east-central France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, about 470 km from Paris and 320 km from Marseille. Inhabitants of the city are called Lyonnais, Lyon had a population of 506,615 in 2014 and is Frances third-largest city after Paris and Marseille. Lyon is the capital of the Metropolis of Lyon and the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the metropolitan area of Lyon had a population of 2,237,676 in 2013, the second-largest in France after Paris. The city is known for its cuisine and gastronomy and historical and architectural landmarks and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lyon was historically an important area for the production and weaving of silk. It played a significant role in the history of cinema, Auguste, the city is also known for its famous light festival, Fête des Lumières, which occurs every 8 December and lasts for four days, earning Lyon the title of Capital of Lights. Economically, Lyon is a centre for banking, as well as for the chemical, pharmaceutical. The city contains a significant software industry with a focus on video games. Lyon hosts the headquarters of Interpol, Euronews, and International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lyon was ranked 19th globally and second in France for innovation in 2014 and it ranked second in France and 39th globally in Mercers 2015 liveability rankings. These refugees had been expelled from Vienne by the Allobroges and were now encamped at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers, dio Cassius says this task was to keep the two men from joining Mark Antony and bringing their armies into the developing conflict. The Roman foundation was at Fourvière hill and was officially called Colonia Copia Felix Munatia, a name invoking prosperity, the city became increasingly referred to as Lugdunum. The earliest translation of this Gaulish place-name as Desired Mountain is offered by the 9th-century Endlicher Glossary, in contrast, some modern scholars have proposed a Gaulish hill-fort named Lugdunon, after the Celtic god Lugus, and dúnon. It then became the capital of Gaul, partly due to its convenient location at the convergence of two rivers, and quickly became the main city of Gaul. Two emperors were born in city, Claudius, whose speech is preserved in the Lyon Tablet in which he justifies the nomination of Gallic senators. Today, the archbishop of Lyon is still referred to as Primat des Gaules, the Christians in Lyon were martyred for their beliefs under the reigns of various Roman emperors, most notably Marcus Aurelius and Septimus Severus. Local saints from this period include Blandina, Pothinus, and Epipodius, in the second century AD, the great Christian bishop of Lyon was the Easterner, Irenaeus. Burgundian refugees fleeing the destruction of Worms by the Huns in 437 were re-settled by the commander of the west, Aëtius. This became the capital of the new Burgundian kingdom in 461, in 843, by the Treaty of Verdun, Lyon, with the country beyond the Saône, went to Lothair I

22.
Marseille
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Marseille, also known as Marseilles in English, is a city in France. Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Massalia, Marseille was the most important trading centre in the region, Marseille is now Frances largest city on the Mediterranean coast and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. The city was European Capital of Culture, together with Košice, Slovakia and it hosted the European Football Championship in 2016, and will be the European Capital of Sport in 2017. The city is home to campuses of Aix-Marseille University and part of one of the largest metropolitan conurbations in France. Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris and the centre of the third largest metropolitan area in France after Paris, further east still are the Sainte-Baume, the city of Toulon and the French Riviera. To the north of Marseille, beyond the low Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges, is the 1,011 m Mont Sainte Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the artists colony of lEstaque, further west are the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion. The airport lies to the north west of the city at Marignane on the Étang de Berre, the citys main thoroughfare stretches eastward from the Old Port to the Réformés quarter. Two large forts flank the entrance to the Old Port—Fort Saint-Nicolas on the south side and Fort Saint-Jean on the north. Further out in the Bay of Marseille is the Frioul archipelago which comprises four islands, one of which, If, is the location of Château dIf, the main commercial centre of the city intersects with the Canebière at rue St Ferréol and the Centre Bourse. To the south east of central Marseille in the 6th arrondissement are the Prefecture and the fountain of Place Castellane. To the south west are the hills of the 7th arrondissement, the railway station—Gare de Marseille Saint-Charles—is north of the Centre Bourse in the 1st arrondissement, it is linked by the Boulevard dAthènes to the Canebière. Marseille has a Mediterranean climate with mild, humid winters and warm to hot, december, January, and February are the coldest months, averaging temperatures of around 12 °C during the day and 4 °C at night. Marseille is officially the sunniest major city in France with over 2,900 hours of sunshine while the average sunshine in France is around 1,950 hours, less frequent is the Sirocco, a hot, sand-bearing wind, coming from the Sahara Desert. Snowfalls are infrequent, over 50% of years do not experience a single snowfall, Massalia, whose name was probably adapted from an existing language related to Ligurian, was the first Greek settlement in France. It was established within modern Marseille around 600 BC by colonists coming from Phocaea on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. The connection between Massalia and the Phoceans is mentioned in Thucydidess Peloponnesian War, he notes that the Phocaean project was opposed by the Carthaginians, the founding of Massalia has also been recorded as a legend. Protis was invited inland to a banquet held by the chief of the local Ligurian tribe for suitors seeking the hand of his daughter Gyptis in marriage, at the end of the banquet, Gyptis presented the ceremonial cup of wine to Protis, indicating her unequivocal choice

23.
Lille
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Lille is a city in northern France, in French Flanders. On the Deûle River, near Frances border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, archeological digs seem to show the area as inhabited by as early as 2000 BC, most notably in the modern-day quartiers of Fives, Wazemmes, and Vieux Lille. The legend of Lydéric and Phinaert puts the foundation of the city of Lille at 640, in the 8th century, the language of Old Low Franconian was spoken here, as attested by toponymic research. Lilles Dutch name is Rijsel, which comes from ter ijsel, the French equivalent has the same meaning, Lille comes from lîle. From 830 until around 910, the Vikings invaded Flanders, after the destruction caused by Norman and Magyar invasion, the eastern part of the region was ruled by various local princes. The first mention of the dates from 1066, apud Insulam. At the time, it was controlled by the County of Flanders, the County of Flanders thus extended to the left bank of the Scheldt, one of the richest and most prosperous regions of Europe. A notable local in this period was Évrard, who lived in the 9th century and participated in many of the days political, there was an important Battle of Lille in 1054. From the 12th century, the fame of the Lille cloth fair began to grow, in 1144 Saint-Sauveur parish was formed, which would give its name to the modern-day quartier Saint-Sauveur. Infante Ferdinand, Count of Flanders was imprisoned and the county fell into dispute, it would be his wife, Jeanne, Countess of Flanders and Constantinople and she was said to be well loved by the residents of Lille, who by that time numbered 10,000. He pushed the kingdoms of Flanders and Hainaut towards sedition against Jeanne in order to recover his land and she called her cousin, Louis VIII. He unmasked the imposter, whom Countess Jeanne quickly had hanged, in 1226 the King agreed to free Infante Ferdinand, Count of Flanders. Count Ferrand died in 1233, and his daughter Marie soon after, in 1235, Jeanne granted a city charter by which city governors would be chosen each All Saints Day by four commissioners chosen by the ruler. On 6 February 1236, she founded the Countesss Hospital, which one of the most beautiful buildings in Old Lille. It was in her honour that the hospital of the Regional Medical University of Lille was named Jeanne of Flanders Hospital in the 20th century, the Countess died in 1244 in the Abbey of Marquette, leaving no heirs. The rule of Flanders and Hainaut thus fell to her sister, Margaret II, Countess of Flanders, then to Margarets son, Lille fell under the rule of France from 1304 to 1369, after the Franco-Flemish War. The county of Flanders fell to the Duchy of Burgundy next, after the 1369 marriage of Margaret III, Countess of Flanders, Lille thus became one of the three capitals of said Duchy, along with Brussels and Dijon. By 1445, Lille counted some 25,000 residents, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, was even more powerful than the King of France, and made Lille an administrative and financial capital

24.
Bordeaux
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Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France. The municipality of Bordeaux proper has a population of 243,626, together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Bordeaux is the centre of the Bordeaux Métropole. With 749,595 inhabitants and 1,178,335 in the area, it is the fifth largest in France, after Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Lille. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department and its inhabitants are called Bordelais or Bordelaises. The term Bordelais may also refer to the city and its surrounding region, Bordeaux is the worlds major wine industry capital. It is home to the main wine fair, Vinexpo. Bordeaux wine has been produced in the region since the 8th century, the historic part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble of the 18th century. After Paris, Bordeaux has the highest number of preserved buildings of any city in France. In historical times, around 300 BC it was the settlement of a Celtic tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, the name Bourde is still the name of a river south of the city. In 107 BC, the Battle of Burdigala was fought by the Romans who were defending the Allobroges, a Gallic tribe allied to Rome, the Romans were defeated and their commander, the consul Lucius Cassius Longinus, was killed in the action. The city fell under Roman rule around 60 BC, its importance lying in the commerce of tin, later it became capital of Roman Aquitaine, flourishing especially during the Severan dynasty. In 276 it was sacked by the Vandals, further ravage was brought by the same Vandals in 409, the Visigoths in 414 and the Franks in 498, beginning a period of obscurity for the city. In the late 6th century, the city re-emerged as the seat of a county and an archdiocese within the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks, the city started to play a regional role as a major urban center on the fringes of the newly founded Frankish Duchy of Vasconia. Around 585, a certain Gallactorius is cited as count of Bordeaux, the city was plundered by the troops of Abd er Rahman in 732 after storming the fortified city and overwhelming the Aquitanian garrison. After Duke Eudess defeat, the Aquitanian duke could still save part of its troops, the following year, the Frankish commander descended again over Aquitaine, but clashed in battle with the Aquitanians and left to take on hostile Burgundian authorities and magnates. In 745, Aquitaine faced yet another expedition by Charles sons Pepin and Carloman against Hunald, Hunald was defeated, and his son Waifer replaced him, who in turn confirmed Bordeaux as the capital city. During the last stage of the war against Aquitaine, it was one of Waifers last important strongholds to fall to King Pepin the Shorts troops. Next to Bordeaux, Charlemagne built the fortress of Fronsac on a hill across the border with the Basques, in 778, Seguin was appointed count of Bordeaux, probably undermining the power of the Duke Lupo, and possibly leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass that very year

25.
Strasbourg
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Strasbourg is the capital and largest city of the Grand Est region of France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany in the region of Alsace. In 2014, the city proper had 276,170 inhabitants, Strasbourgs metropolitan area had a population of 773,347 in 2013, making it the ninth largest metro area in France and home to 13% of the Grand Est regions inhabitants. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 915,000 inhabitants in 2014, Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is also the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, Strasbourgs historic city centre, the Grande Île, was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. The largest Islamic place of worship in France, the Strasbourg Grand Mosque, was inaugurated by French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on 27 September 2012. Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail, the port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany. Before the 5th century, the city was known as Argantorati, a Celtic Gaulish name Latinized first as Argentorate, after the 5h century, the city became known by a completely different name Gallicized as Strasbourg. That name is of Germanic origin and means Town of roads, Strasbourg is situated on the eastern border of France with Germany. This border is formed by the River Rhine, which forms the eastern border of the modern city. The historic core of Strasbourg however lies on the Grande Île in the River Ill, which flows parallel to, and roughly 4 kilometres from. The natural courses of the two eventually join some distance downstream of Strasbourg, although several artificial waterways now connect them within the city. This section of the Rhine valley is an axis of north-south travel, with river traffic on the Rhine itself. The city is some 400 kilometres east of Paris, in spite of its position far inland, Strasbourgs climate is classified as Oceanic, with warm, relatively sunny summers and cold, overcast winters. Precipitation is elevated from mid-spring to the end of summer, but remains largely constant throughout the year, on average, snow falls 30 days per year. The highest temperature recorded was 38.5 °C in August 2003. The lowest temperature recorded was −23.4 °C in December 1938. Nonetheless, the disappearance of heavy industry on both banks of the Rhine, as well as effective measures of traffic regulation in and around the city have reduced air pollution

26.
Rennes
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Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department, renness history goes back more than 2,000 years, at a time when it was a small Gallic village named Condate. Together with Vannes and Nantes, it was one of the cities of the historic province of Brittany. After the French Revolution, Rennes remained for most of its history a parliamentary, administrative, since the 1950s, Rennes has grown in importance through rural flight and its modern industrial development, partly automotive. The city developed extensive building plans to accommodate upwards of 200,000 inhabitants, during the 1980s, Rennes became one of the main centres in telecommunication and high technology industry. It is now a significant digital innovation centre in France, in 2015, the city is the tenth largest in France, with a metropolitan area of about 700,000 inhabitants. With more than 63,000 students in 2013, is also the eighth-largest university campus of France, the inhabitants of Rennes are called Rennais in French. In 2012, lExpress named Rennes as the most liveable city in France, Rennes is the administrative capital of the French department of Ille-et-Vilaine. It has a long history due to its location at the confluence of two rivers and its proximity to the regions from which arose various challenges to the borders of Brittany. Without inscriptions, as the Celtic practice was, the Redones coinage features a charioteer whose pony has a human head, large hoards of their coins were unearthed in the treasure of Amanlis found in June 1835 and that of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande, discovered in February 1941. The museum at Rennes contains a representative collection. In 57 BC the Redones joined the Gaulish coalition against Rome which was suppressed by Crassus, in 52 BC, the Redones responded to the call of Vercingetorix to furnish a large contingent of warriors. The oldest known Rennais is Titus Flavius Postuminus, known to us from his steles found in Rennes in 1969. As indicated by his name, he would have been born under the Flavian dynasty, under the reign of Titus, one of the steles tells us, in Latin, that he took charge over all the public affairs in the Civitas Riedonum. He was twice duumvir and flamen for life for Mars Mullo, during the Roman era, the strategic position of the town contributed to its importance. To the west the principal Roman route, via Osismii, stretched from Condate Riedonum to Vorgium, in 275, the threat of barbarians led to the erection of a robust brick wall around Rennes. The Holy See of Rennes had been established by 453, with a church having occupied the site of the current Rennes Cathedral since the start of the 6th century. One of the earliest bishops of Rennes, Melaine - who would become the patron saint - played an important role in the peace treaty between the Franks and the Armoricans in 497

27.
Land speed record for railed vehicles
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Determination of the fastest rail vehicle in the world varies depending on the definition of rail. The world record for manned passenger trains is held by the L0 Series, the world record for conventional wheeled manned passenger trains is held by Frances specially tuned TGV. Reduced to three cars with higher voltage, larger wheels and higher-tension pantograph wires, it broke the record in April 2007. The fastest manned rail vehicle was a rocket sled, which carried USAF Colonel John Stapp at 1,017 km/h. Unmanned rocket sleds that ride on rails have reached over 10,400 km/h, legend, Arr, Disposition and number of elements forming the train. Power, DC, DC 3rd rail, AC, Single phase, Triphase, gas, Steam, Diesel-hydraulic, Propeller, Rocket, Jet. The following is a list of speed records for rail vehicles with electric traction motors, the following is a list of speed records for steam locomotives. The following is a list of speed records for rail vehicles that use air propulsion to move rail vehicles while the wheels are rolling along the track. Using an air cushion and a Monorail, the Aérotrain set on 5 March 1974 a mean speed of 417.6 km/h, the following are the lists of world record average operating speeds between two stations. The average speeds are measured by the time and the distance between the two stations

28.
LGV Est
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The Ligne à Grande Vitesse Est européenne, typically shortened to LGV Est, is a French high-speed rail line that connects Vaires-sur-Marne and Vendenheim. The line halved the time between Paris and Strasbourg and provides fast services between Paris and the principal cities of eastern France as well as Luxembourg, Germany. The LGV Est is a segment of the Main line for Europe project to connect Paris with Budapest with high-speed rail service, the line was built in two phases. Construction on the 300 km from Vaires-sur-Marne to Baudrecourt began in 2004, Construction on the 106 km second phase from Baudrecourt to Vendenheim began in June 2010, the second phase opened to commercial service on 3 July 2016. Opening of the phase was delayed after a train derailed near Eckwersheim during commissioning trials. A specially modified train performed a series of high-speed tests on the first phase of the LGV Est prior to its opening, in April 2007, it reached a top speed of 574.8 km/h, becoming the fastest conventional train and fastest train on a national rail system. The line passes through the French regions of Grand Est and Île-de-France, the first 300 km section of this new route, linking Vaires-sur-Marne near Paris to Baudrecourt in the Moselle, entered service on 10 June 2007. The second phase includes the 4, 200-metre Saverne Tunnel, in 1969, Metz politician Raymond Mondon requested a study of a fast train from Paris to Strasbourg along the route of the planned A4 autoroute. In 1970-71, the International Union of Railways developed a plan of fast intercity connections in continental Europe. Its connection between Paris and Strasbourg was very similar to the route of the LGV Est, the UIC master plan called for this line to be constructed shortly after Paris-Lyon and Paris-Brussels lines. In 1974, the director of SNCF confirmed that the wanted to follow the UIC master plan. Germany, which was developing the Transrapid maglev system, was reserved about the TGV system being developed by France. A1975 study concluded that the traffic to only Alsace. In 1982, recognizing German reluctance to extend the line into Germany, the LGV Est is a direct result of a project begun in 1985 with the establishment of a working group chaired by Claude Rattier and later by Philippe Essig. Their report provided the basis for design studies conducted in 1992-93. The initial 1980s plan extended along a corridor from Paris to Munich, in 1988, the German government agreed to a rail line from Paris to Frankfurt via Saarbrücken. The following year, Philippe Essig presented the route that would later be built and at the same time addressed the other problem and this route, further north than previous proposals, served Reims and Strasbourg. Financing of this called for contributions from local governments—a first in France for construction of a high-speed line—and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

29.
Railway Gazette International
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Railway Gazette International is a monthly business journal covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Railway Gazette International traces its history to May 1835 as The Railway Magazine, the Railway Gazette title dates from July 1905, created to cover railway commercial and financial affairs. In April 1914 it merged with The Railway Times, which incorporated Herapaths Railway Journal, around this time it also absorbed The Railway News. It then reflected all aspects of railway activity, particularly in the British Empire, in January 1964, it merged with sister publication Diesel Railway Traction and its frequency reduced from weekly to fortnightly. In October 1970, it was renamed Railway Gazette International and reduced in frequency to monthly, Railway Gazette International is part of the Railway Gazette Group, itself part of DVV Media Group. It was part of Reed Business Information until 1 April 2007

30.
Gare de Champagne-Ardenne TGV
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Champagne-Ardenne TGV is a railway station that opened in June 2007 along with the LGV Est, a TGV high-speed rail line from Paris to Strasbourg. It is located in Bezannes, about five kilometres south of Reims, twenty-seven TGV trains serve the station daily in each direction, for a total of fifty-four trains per day. It is directly connected to the stations of, Gare de lEst, Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 – TGV, Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy, TGV connect it directly in Lille, Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg. However, Champagne-Ardenne TGV is not served by the TGV Sud-Est, and there is no direct connection to Lyon and Avignon

31.
Shijiazhuang
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Shijiazhuang, formerly romanized Shihkiachwang, is the capital and largest city of North Chinas Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about 263 kilometres southwest of Beijing, Shijiazhuangs total population ranked twelfth in mainland China. Shijiazhuang experienced dramatic growth after the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, the population of the metropolitan area has more than quadrupled in 30 years as a result of industrialization and infrastructural developments. From 2008 to 2011, Shijiazhuang implemented a plan which concluded with the reorganization of the city resulting in an increase of green areas and new buildings. A train station, airport and a system have been opened. The oldest name of the city was Shiyi, in pre-Han times, it was the site of the city of Shiyi in the state of Zhao, and from Han to Sui times it was the site of a county town with the same name. With the reorganization of government in the early period of the Tang dynasty. Shijiazhuang then became more than a local market town, subordinated to the flourishing city of Zhengding a few miles to the north. The growth of Shijiazhuang into one of Chinas major cities began in 1905, two years later the town became the junction for the new Shitai line, running from Shijiazhuang to Taiyuan, Shanxi. The city also became the centre of a road network. By 1935 it had far outstripped Zhengding as an economic centre, at the end of World War II the character of the city changed when it took on an administrative role as the preeminent city in western Hebei, and developed into an industrial city. Some industries, such as manufacturing, tobacco processing. On November 12,1947, the city was captured by Communist forces, in 1948, the city, formerly known as Shímén, was renamed Shijiazhuang. Today, the area is a memorial site, after 1949 the industrialisation of the city gathered momentum. Its population more than tripled in the decade 1948–58, in the 1950s, the city experienced a major expansion in the textile industry, with large-scale cotton spinning, weaving, printing, and dyeing works. In addition there are plants processing local farm produce, in the 1960s it was the site of a new chemical industry, with plants producing fertilizer and caustic soda. Shijiazhuang also became a base, with a tractor-accessory plant. In 1967, Tianjin was again carved out of Hebei, remaining a separate entity today, and thus the provincial capital was moved to Baoding

32.
Zhengzhou
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Zhengzhou is a Chinese city and the provincial capital of Henan Province in east-central China. As a prefecture-level city, it serves as the political, economic, technological. The city lies on the bank of the Yellow River. Zhengzhou has a population of 9,378,000 inhabitants with a population of 6,406,000. Zhengzhou is now a growing city. Greater Zhengzhou was named as one of the 13 emerging megacities or megalopolises in China in a July 2012 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Shang dynasty established Aodu or Bodu in Zhengzhou. This prehistorical city had become abandoned as ruins long before the First Emperor of China in BC260, since 1950, archaeological finds in a walled city in Eastern Zhengzhou have provided evidence of Neolithic Shang dynasty settlements in the area. Outside this city, remains of public buildings and a complex of small settlements have been discovered. The site is identified with the Shang capital of Ao and is preserved in the Shang dynasty Ruins monument in Guanchen District. The Shang, who moved their capital due to frequent natural disasters. The site, nevertheless, remained occupied, Zhou tombs have also been discovered, legend suggests that in the Western Zhou period the site became the fief of a family named Guan. From this derives the name borne by the county since the late 6th century BC—Guancheng, the city first became the seat of a prefectural administration in AD587, when it was named Guanzhou. In 605 it was first called Zhengzhou—a name by which it has been virtually ever since. The name Zhengzhou came from the Sui dynasty, even though it was located in Chenggao, the government moved to the contemporary city during the Tang dynasty. It achieved its greatest importance under the Sui, Tang, and early Song dynasties, when it was the terminus of the New Bian Canal, which joined the Yellow River to the northwest. There, at a place called Heyin, a vast granary complex was established to supply the capitals at Luoyang and Changan to the west, in the Song period, however, the transfer of the capital eastward to Kaifeng robbed Zhengzhou of much of its importance. It was a capital during the five dynasties of Xia, Shang, Guan, Zheng, and Han, and a prefecture during the eight dynasties of Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. Zhengzhou thus became a rail junction and a regional center for cotton, grain, peanuts

33.
LGV Sud Europe Atlantique
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The LGV Sud Europe Atlantique, also known as the LGV Sud-Ouest or LGV LOcéane, is a high-speed railway line between Tours and Bordeaux, in France. It will be used by TGV trains operated by SNCF, the French national railway company and it is an extension of the LGV Atlantique. The line was inaugurated on 28 February 2017 and is expected to service on 2 July 2017. The line was built by consortium LISAE, which will be responsible for operating and maintaining the line until 2061, the trip between Paris and Bordeaux will take around two hours and ten minutes at a projected speed of 300 km/h. The inter-city links between Tours, Poitiers, Angoulême, and Bordeaux will also be improved and southwestern France will be connected to various parts of the country. The project is also a response to the traffic on the existing rail line. Train tracks are most efficiently used when all trains circulate at the speed and have identical stops. This congests the tracks and prevents their most efficient usage, dedicated tracks for the TGV therefore leave space on the existing tracks for many more freight and TER trains than just the number of removed TGV trains. New regional TER services will become possible, and could ease services that are currently crowded. The increase in trains on the existing track would ease truck traffic on the roads in the régions, as trains transport more and more goods. The project was sold as benefiting the economy. The construction of Phase 1 is expected to create 10,000 construction jobs a year for five years, jobs in the transport, commerce, and service sectors are expected to be created as well. Local businesses may their see competitiveness increase as their markets expand and this route will supplement – and partly supersede – the classic Paris–Bordeaux railway line. The line was built by consortium LISEA consisting of Vinci Concessions -33. 4%, Caisse des dépôts et consignations -25. 4%, Meridiam -22. 0%, the consortium will operate and maintain the line until 2061, and will charge tolls to train companies. The new high-speed route bypasses Libourne, shortening the distance traveled compared to the existing route. South of Poitiers, a connection allows trains to access the old tracks towards La Rochelle, the journey between Tours and Bordeaux will be shortened by around 50 minutes. 302 km of high-speed track was built together with a further 38 km of tracks that connect to the LGV. The new line is expected to increase ridership by about five million travellers

34.
LGV Nord
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The LGV Nord is a French 333-kilometre -long high-speed rail line, opened in 1993, that connects Paris to the Belgian border and the Channel Tunnel via Lille. With a maximum speed of 300 kilometres per hour, the line appreciably shortened rail journeys between Paris and Lille. Its extensions to the north and the south have reduced journey times to Great Britain and Benelux and its route is twinned with the A1 for 130 kilometres. As it is built in flat areas, the maximum incline is 25 metres per kilometre. Traffic is controlled by the Lille rail traffic centre, the LGV Nord begins at Arnouville-lès-Gonesse,16.6 kilometres from the Gare du Nord on the Paris–Lille railway line. After passing east of the forest of Ermenonville over the viaduc de Verberie, at Ablaincourt-Pressoir, a new station, Gare TGV Haute-Picardie, is served only by inter-regional TGVs. At Croisilles, Pas-de-Calais, a junction leads to the Agny link towards Arras, the LGV crosses the A1 autoroute at Seclin. After the Fretin junction, the LGV has a connection to the network at Lezennes. This junction is used for TGVs going to Lille-Flandres, all TGVs and some Eurostars stop at Lille-Europe. Non-stop Eurostars pass through a tunnel under the city of Lille at 200 kilometres per hour, the line passes south of Armentières and north of Hazebrouck. At Cassel, a provides a connection with Dunkirk. The LGV continues west, crossing the A26 autoroute at Zouafques and ends at Calais-Fréthun and this enables TGV service to Calais and Eurostars through the Channel Tunnel to London. The TGVs continue to Calais-Ville or reverse in either Calais stations and go on to Boulogne-sur-Mer and Étaples-Le Touquet, the route was much criticised, particularly by those in the Picardy region. The LGV crosses the region without a stop, Amiens in particular would have liked to have been on the line. The government judged a route via Amiens to be impracticable, as the Lille route demanded a straight line between Paris and Lille in order to give a reasonable Paris-Lille-London journey time. The LGV Picardie project would address this issue by serving Amiens, Amiens wanted a station closer to the town centre, stopping at Gare dAmiens. ² Arras station is reached via a branch of the LGV Nord that splits off near the village of Croisilles, rain had caused a hole to open up under the track, the hole dated from the First World War but had not been detected during construction. The front power car and the front four carriages derailed, out of the 200 passengers, one was slightly injured

35.
Thalys
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Thalys is an international high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar trains that go from Paris or Brussels to London via Lille, Thalys serves Amsterdam and Cologne as well. Its system is managed by Thalys International and operated by THI Factory, before Thalys, there had been an express rail service between Paris and Brussels since 1924 on the train service lÉtoile du Nord. In the 1970s it connected the two cities in around 2 hours 30 minutes, the decision to build a high-speed railway between Paris, Brussels, Cologne and Amsterdam was made in 1987. On 4 June 1996 the first train left Paris using the LGV Nord until it reached Belgium, in 1997, the Belgian HSL1 line, allowing 300 km/h and running from the French border to the outskirts of Brussels, was completed for service. On 14 December 1997 the first Thalys train from Paris to Brussels ran on the HSL1, at the same time service commenced to Cologne and Aachen in Germany, and Bruges, Charleroi, Ghent, Mons, Namur and Ostend in Belgium. On 19 December 1998 the Thalys Neige service started to the ski resorts of Tarentaise Valley, on 28 November 1999, the company changed its name to Thalys International. In 2000, Thalys started a daily Service between Brussels and Geneva, Thalys Soleil started offering direct connections to the Provence, initially to Valence, and extended to Avignon and Marseille in 2002. Service between Brussels and Cologne was improved in December 2002 when trains began running on the new HSL2 in Belgium, in 2003, services started to Brussels International Airport and the Thalys Nuits d’Été service to Marne-la-Vallée. Deutsche Bahn purchased 10% of the company in 2007, HSL3 was completed in 2007, but Thalys trains had not yet been equipped with the ETCS signalling equipment necessary to use the new line. After installation and testing, Thalys began operating on HSL3 on 13 December 2009, for the same reasons, Thalys started operating on the HSL 4/HSL-Zuid high-speed line between Antwerp and Amsterdam 13 December 2009, two years after the lines construction. Since 29 August 2011, one journey to Cologne has been extended to Essen Hauptbahnhof. In June 2013, Deutsche Bahn stopped selling Thalys tickets, Thalys has served Düsseldorf Airport station since the winter 2013 schedule went into effect. On 12 April 2014, Thalys started a service between Lille Europe and Amsterdam Centraal. At the end of March 2015, Thalys dropped the Paris – Oostende, on 30 March 2015, Thalys became a train company, and operates since under its own train operator certificate. Starting from 13 December 2015, service in Germany is extended to Dortmund, beyond Brussels, the main cities Thalys trains reach are Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Liège, Aachen and Cologne. Trains to these destinations run partly on dedicated high-speed tracks, the high-speed lines used by Thalys are HSL1 between Paris and Brussels, HSL 4/HSL-Zuid between Antwerp and Amsterdam, and the HSL2 and HSL3 between Brussels and Aachen. For its seasonal operations within France, other high-speed lines are used, journeys from Brussels to Paris are normally 1 hour,22 minutes, for a distance of approximately 300 kilometres

36.
Eurostar
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Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Avignon, Brussels, Lille, Lyon, Marseille and Paris. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel, the London terminus is St Pancras International, with the other British calling points being Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International in Kent. Calling points in France are Calais-Fréthun and Lille-Europe, with trains to Paris terminating at Gare du Nord, Trains to Belgium terminate at Midi/Zuid station in Brussels. In addition, there are limited services from London to Disneyland Paris at Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy, services to southern France as of 1 May 2015 and seasonal services to the Alps in winter. The service is operated by 27 eighteen-coach Class 373/1 trains which run at up to 300 kilometres per hour on a network of high-speed lines. The LGV Nord line in France opened before Eurostar services began in 1994, the French and Belgian parts of the network are shared with Paris–Brussels Thalys services and also with TGV trains. Eurostar has become the dominant operator on the routes that it operates, other operators have expressed an interest in starting competing services following deregulation in 2010. On 1 September 2010, Eurostar was incorporated as a corporate entity called Eurostar International Limited. EIL is owned by SNCF, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Hermes Infrastructure, in June 2014, the UK shareholding in Eurostar International Limited was transferred from London and Continental Railways / Department for Transport to HM Treasury. In October 2014, it was announced that the UK government planned to raise £300 million by selling that stake. In March 2015, the UK government announced that it would be selling its 40% share to an Anglo-Canadian consortium made up of Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec and this sale was completed in May 2015. The history of Eurostar can be traced to the 1986 choice of a tunnel to provide a cross-channel link between Britain and France. A previous attempt at constructing a tunnel between the two nations had begun in 1974, but was quickly aborted, in 1988 construction began on a new basis. Eurotunnel was created to manage and own the tunnel, which was finished in 1993, British Rail and SNCF contracted with Eurotunnel to use half the tunnels capacity for this purpose. In 1987 Britain, France and Belgium set up an International Project Group to specify a train to provide an international high-speed passenger service through the tunnel. An order for 30 trainsets, to be manufactured in France but with some British, on 20 June 1993, the first Eurostar test train travelled through the tunnel to the UK. Various technical difficulties in running the new trains on British tracks were quickly overcome, on 14 November 1994 Eurostar services began between Waterloo International station in London, Gare du Nord in Paris and Brussels-South railway station in Brussels. In 1995 Eurostar was achieving an average speed of 171.5 km/h between London and Paris

37.
Tours
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Tours is a city located in the centre-west of France. It is the centre of the Indre-et-Loire department and the largest city in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. In 2012, the city of Tours had 134,978 inhabitants, Tours stands on the lower reaches of the River Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. The surrounding district, the province of Touraine, is known for its wines, for the alleged perfection of its local spoken French. The city is also the end-point of the annual Paris–Tours cycle race, in Gallic times the city was important as a crossing point of the Loire. Becoming part of the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD, the name evolved in the 4th century when the original Gallic name, Turones, became first Civitas Turonum then Tours. It was at time that the amphitheatre of Tours, one of the five largest amphitheatres of the Empire, was built. Tours became the metropolis of the Roman province of Lugdunum towards 380–388, dominating the Loire Valley, Maine, one of the outstanding figures of the history of the city was Saint Martin, second bishop who shared his coat with a naked beggar in Amiens. This incident and the importance of Martin in the medieval Christian West made Tours, and its position on the route of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, a major centre during the Middle Ages. In the 6th century Gregory of Tours, author of the Ten Books of History, in the 9th century, Tours was at the heart of the Carolingian Rebirth, in particular because of Alcuin abbot of Marmoutier. The outcome was defeat for the Muslims, preventing France from Islamic conquest, in 845, Tours repulsed the first attack of the Viking chief Hasting. In 850, the Vikings settled at the mouths of the Seine, still led by Hasting, they went up the Loire again in 852 and sacked Angers, Tours and the abbey of Marmoutier. During the Middle Ages, Tours consisted of two juxtaposed and competing centres, in the west, the new city structured around the Abbey of Saint Martin was freed from the control of the City during the 10th century and became Châteauneuf. This space, organized between Saint Martin and the Loire, became the centre of Tours. Between these two centres remained Varennes, vineyards and fields, little occupied except for the Abbaye Saint-Julien established on the banks of the Loire, the two centres were linked during the 14th century. Tours became the capital of the county of Tours or Touraine and it was the capital of France at the time of Louis XI, who had settled in the castle of Montils, Tours and Touraine remained until the 16th century a permanent residence of the kings and court. The rebirth gave Tours and Touraine many private mansions and castles and it is also at the time of Louis XI that the silk industry was introduced – despite difficulties, the industry still survives to this day. At this time, the Catholics returned to power in Angers, the Massacre of Saint-Barthelemy was not repeated at Tours

38.
Commuting
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Commuting is periodically recurring travel between ones place of residence and place of work, or study, and in doing so exceed the boundary of their residential community. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations, even when not work-related, a distinction is also often made between commuters who commute daily or weekly between their residence to work place, and are therefore considered respectively local or long-distance commuters. Later, the back formations commute and commuter were coined therefrom, commuted tickets would usually allow the traveller to repeat the same journey as often as they liked during the period of validity, normally, the longer the period the cheaper the cost per day. Before the 19th century, most workers lived less than a walk from their work. Today, many people travel daily to work a long way from their own towns, cities, in the near future there may be another move away from the traditional commute with the introduction of flexible working. Some have suggested that employees would be far more productive and live healthier. Commuting has had a impact on modern life. It has allowed cities to grow to sizes that were not practical. Many large cities or conurbations are surrounded by belts, also known as metropolitan areas, commuter towns, dormitory towns. The prototypical commuter lives in one of areas and travels daily to work or to school in the core city. A UK study, published in 2009, found that women suffer four times as much psychological stress from their work commute than do men, institutions that have few dormitories or low student housing populations are called commuter schools in the United States. As an example, Interstate 405 located in Southern California is one of the busiest freeways in the United States, commuters may sit up to two hours in traffic during rush hour. Construction work or collisions on the freeway distract and slow down commuters, cars carrying only one occupant use fuel and roads less efficiently than shared cars or public transport, and increase traffic congestion. Commuting by car is a factor contributing to air pollution. Carpool lanes can help commuters reach their destinations more quickly, encourage people to socialize, some governments and employers have introduced employee travel reduction programs that encourage such alternatives as car-pooling and telecommuting. Some are also carpooling using Internet sites to save money, alternatives like personal rapid transit have also been proposed to reap the energy-efficiency benefits of a mass transit system while maintaining the speed and convenience of individual transport. Traffic emissions, such as trucks, buses, and automobiles. Airborne by-products from vehicle exhaust systems cause air pollution and are an ingredient in the creation of smog in some large cities

39.
Shinkansen
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The Shinkansen is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by five Japan Railways Group companies. The nickname bullet train is used in English for these high-speed trains. The maximum operating speed is 320 km/h, test runs have reached 443 km/h for conventional rail in 1996, and up to a world record 603 km/h for maglev trains in April 2015. Shinkansen literally means new trunk line, referring to the rail line network. The name Superexpress, initially used for Hikari trains, was retired in 1972 but is used in English-language announcements. The original Tōkaidō Shinkansen, connecting the largest cities of Tokyo, carrying 151 million passengers per year, and at over 5 billion total passengers it has transported more passengers than any other high-speed line in the world. The service on the line operates much larger trains and at higher frequency than most other high speed lines in the world. At peak times, the line carries up to thirteen trains per hour in direction with sixteen cars each with a minimum headway of three minutes between trains. While the Shinkansen network has been expanding, Japans declining population is expected to cause ridership to decline over time, the recent expansion in tourism has boosted ridership marginally. Japan was the first country to build dedicated railway lines for high-speed travel, because of the mountainous terrain, the existing network consisted of 1,067 mm narrow-gauge lines, which generally took indirect routes and could not be adapted to higher speeds. Consequently, Japan had a greater need for new high-speed lines than countries where the standard gauge or broad gauge rail system had more upgrade potential. Other significant people responsible for its development were Tadanao Miki, Tadashi Matsudaira. They were responsible for much of the development of the first line. All three had worked on aircraft design during World War II, the popular English name bullet train is a literal translation of the Japanese term dangan ressha, a nickname given to the project while it was initially being discussed in the 1930s. The name stuck because of the original 0 Series Shinkansens resemblance to a bullet and these plans were abandoned in 1943 as Japans position in World War II worsened. However, some construction did commence on the line, several tunnels on the present-day Shinkansen date to the war-era project, by the mid-1950s the Tōkaidō Line was operating at full capacity, and the Ministry of Railways decided to revisit the Shinkansen project. In 1957, Odakyu Electric Railway introduced its 3000 series SE Romancecar train and this train gave designers the confidence that they could safely build an even faster standard gauge train. Thus the first Shinkansen, the 0 series, was built on the success of the Romancecar, in the 1950s, the Japanese national attitude was that railways would soon be outdated and replaced by air travel and highways as in America and many countries in Europe

40.
Government of France
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The Government of the French Republic exercises executive power. It is composed of a minister, who is the head of government. Senior ministers are titled as Ministers, whereas junior ministers are titled as Secretaries of State, a smaller and more powerful executive body, called the Council of Ministers, is composed only of the senior ministers, though some Secretaries of State may attend Council meetings. By comparison, the Government of France is equivalent to Her Majestys Government in the United Kingdom, all members of the French government are nominated by the President of the Republic on the advice of the Prime Minister. Members of the government are ranked in an order, which is established at the time of government formation. In this hierarchy, the Prime Minister is the head of government and he is nominated by the President of the Republic. After being nominated to lead a government, the Prime Minister nominee must propose a list of ministers to the President, the President can either accept or reject these proposed ministers. Ministers are ranked by importance, Ministers of State are senior ministers and it is an honorary rank, granted to some Ministers as a sign of prestige. Ministers are senior ministers, and are members of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries of State are junior ministers. This is the lowest rank in the French ministerial hierarchy, Secretaries work directly under a Minister, or sometimes directly under the Prime Minister. While the Council of Ministers does not include Secretaries of State as members, according to the Constitution of the French Fifth Republic, the government directs and decides the policy of the nation. In practice, the government writes bills to be introduced to parliament, all political decisions made by the government must be registered in the government gazette. All bills and some decrees must be approved by the Council of Ministers, furthermore, it is the Council of Ministers that defines the collective political and policy direction of the government, and takes practical steps to implement that direction. In addition to writing and implementing policy, the government is responsible for national defence, the workings of the government of France are based on the principle of collegiality. Meetings of the Council of Ministers take place every Wednesday morning at the Élysée Palace and they are presided over by the President of the Republic, who promotes solidarity and collegiality amongst government ministers. These meetings follow a set format, in the first part of a meeting, the Council deliberates over general interest bills, ordinances, and decrees. In the second part, the Council discusses individual decisions by each Minister regarding the appointment of civil servants. In addition, the Minister of Foreign Affairs provides the Council with weekly updates on important international issues, most government work, however, is done elsewhere

41.
Hovercraft
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A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is a craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft are hybrid vessels operated by a pilot as a rather than a captain as a marine vessel. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a volume of air below the hull that is slightly above atmospheric pressure. The pressure difference between the higher pressure air below the hull and lower pressure ambient air above it produces lift, for stability reasons, the air is typically blown through slots or holes around the outside of a disk- or oval-shaped platform, giving most hovercraft a characteristic rounded-rectangle shape. Typically this cushion is contained within a flexible skirt, which allows the vehicle to travel over small obstructions without damage, the first practical design for hovercraft was derived from a British invention in the 1950s to 1960s. They are now used throughout the world as specialised transports in disaster relief, coastguard, military, although now a generic term for the type of craft, the name Hovercraft itself was a trademark owned by Saunders-Roe, hence other manufacturers use of alternative names to describe the vehicles. There have been attempts to understand the principles of high air pressure below hulls. To a great extent, the majority of these can be termed ground effect or water effect vehicles rather than hovercraft, the principal difference is that a hovercraft can lift itself while still, whereas the majority of other designs require forward motion to create lift. These active-motion surface effect vehicles are known in specific cases as ekranoplan, the first mention in the historical record of the concepts behind surface-effect vehicles that used the term hovering was by Swedish scientist Emanuel Swedenborg in 1716. The shipbuilder Sir John Isaac Thornycroft patented a design for an air cushion ship / hovercraft in the 1870s. In 1915, the Austrian Dagobert Müller built the worlds first air cushion boat, only when in motion could the craft trap air under the front, increasing lift. The vessel also required a depth of water to operate and could not transition to land or other surfaces, designed as a fast torpedo boat, the Versuchsgleitboot had a top speed over 32 knots. It was thoroughly tested and even armed with torpedoes and machine guns for operation in the Adriatic. It never saw combat, however, and as the war progressed it was eventually scrapped due to the lack of interest and perceived need. The theoretical grounds for motion over an air layer were constructed by Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovskii in 1926 and 1927, in 1929, Andrew Kucher of Ford began experimenting with the Levapad concept, metal disks with pressurized air blown through a hole in the center. Levapads do not offer stability on their own, several must be used together to support a load above them. Lacking a skirt, the pads had to very close to the running surface. He initially imagined these being used in place of casters and wheels in factories and warehouses, in 1931, Finnish aero engineer Toivo J. Kaario began designing a developed version of a vessel using an air cushion and built a prototype Pintaliitäjä, in 1937

42.
Louis Gallois
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Louis René Fernand Gallois is a French businessman. He was the CEO of EADS, the European aeronautic defense and space company, Gallois was raised in Montauban, where he received his baccalauréat in 1961. After two years of a well-known private prépa school, Sainte-Geneviève, he attended school at HEC. He then went on to ENA, one of the most prestigious grandes écoles, Gallois headed several government departments during his career. He was appointed head of the civil and military cabinet in the French defense ministry and he was Chairman and CEO of Snecma, an aircraft and rocket engine manufacturer, from 1989 to 1992, when he became CEO of Aérospatiale, a French state-owned aviation company. He headed that company until 1996, when he became President of SNCF, Gallois joined EADS on 2 July 2006 following the resignation of Noël Forgeard. Forgeard resigned after allegations of insider trading, which he denied, Forgeard had sold EADS stock weeks before its Airbus subsidiary announced that the Airbus A380 would be delayed again. The announcement caused a 26% slump in the EADS share price, on 9 October 2006, Gallois replaced Christian Streiff as the CEO of the aircraft manufacturer Airbus S. A. S. On 16 July 2007, EADSs management structure was changed and Gallois was appointed CEO of EADS for 5 years and he was replaced on 31 May 2012 by the then CEO of Airbus, Tom Enders. Gallois is a member of the Board of Directors of École Centrale Paris, in 2012, immediately after leaving EADS, Gallois became the governments Commissioner for Investment

43.
Gas turbine-electric locomotive
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A gas turbine - electric locomotive, or GTEL, is a locomotive that uses a gas turbine to drive an electric generator or alternator. The electric current thus produced is used to power traction motors and this type of locomotive was first experimented with during the Second World War, but reached its peak in the 1950s to 1960s. Few locomotives use this system today, a GTEL uses a turbo-electric drivetrain in which a turboshaft engine drives an electrical generator or alternator via a system of gears. The electrical power is distributed to power the motors that drive the locomotive. In overall terms the system is similar to a conventional diesel-electric. A gas turbine offers some advantages over a piston engine, there are few moving parts, decreasing the need for lubrication and potentially reducing maintenance costs, and the power-to-weight ratio is much higher. A turbine of a power output is also physically smaller than an equally powerful piston engine. However, a power output and efficiency both drop dramatically with rotational speed, unlike a piston engine, which has a comparatively flat power curve. This makes GTEL systems useful primarily for long-distance high-speed runs, Union Pacific operated the largest fleet of such locomotives of any railroad in the world, and was the only railroad to use them for hauling freight. Most other GTELs have been built for passenger trains. With a rise in costs, gas turbine locomotives became uneconomical to operate. Additionally, Union Pacifics locomotives required more maintenance than originally anticipated, in 1939 the Swiss Federal Railways ordered a GTEL with a 1,620 kW of maximum engine power from Brown Boveri. It was completed in 1941, and then underwent testing before entering regular service, the Am 4/6 was the first gas turbine - electric locomotive. It was intended primarily to work light, fast, passenger trains on routes which normally handle insufficient traffic to justify electrification, two gas turbine locomotives of different design,18000 and 18100 were ordered by the Great Western Railway, but completed for the newly nationalised British Railways. 18000 was built by Brown Boveri and delivered in 1949 and it was a 1840 kW GTEL, ordered by the GWR and used for express passenger services. 18100 was built by Metropolitan-Vickers and delivered in 1951 and it had an aircraft-type gas turbine of 2.2 MW. Maximum speed was 90 miles per hour, the British Rail APT-E, prototype of the Advanced Passenger Train, was turbine-powered. Like the French TGV, later models were electric instead and this choice was made because British Leyland, the turbine supplier, ceased production of the model used in the APT-E

Ouigo
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Ouigo is a French low-cost train service based at Marne-la-Vallée offering services to the north, the north-west and the south-east of France. It is a subsidiary of the French national rail company SNCF, the service was announced in by the head of SNCF, Guillaume Pepy on 19 February 2013, and it launched services on 2 April that year. Unlike Europe

1.
A Ouigo train arriving at Nîmes station

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A Ouigo check-in desk at Avignon station

LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire
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The LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire is a high-speed rail line under construction, running between Connerré and Cesson-Sévigné, in France. Scheduled to be complete in late 2017, it will be serviced by TGV trains operated by SNCF, the total cost is put at €3. 4bn, with funding agreed on 29 July 2008 between the various bodies involved. The French gover

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Map of the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire

High-speed rail in France
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The first French high-speed rail line opened in 1981, between Pariss and Lyons suburbs. It was at time the only high-speed rail line in Europe. As of December 2014, the French high-speed rail network comprises 2,037 km of Lignes à grande vitesse, in 1976, the government agreed to fund the first line. The LGV opened to the public between Paris and L

Rail transport in Luxembourg
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The Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois is the national railway company of Luxembourg. In 2013, it carried approximately 20.7 million passengers and 804 million tonnes kilometers of goods, the company employs 3,090 people, making CFL the countrys seventh-largest corporate employer. The Luxembourg rail system comprises 275 route-kilo

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CFL Dosto regional train in Luxembourg.

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Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL)

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Most CFL-services are operated with modern double-decker trains, such as these Class 2200.

High-speed rail in Germany
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Construction of the first German high-speed rail lines began shortly after that of the French LGVs. However, legal battles caused significent delays, so that the German InterCityExpress trains were deployed ten years after the TGV network was established. The ICE network is more integrated with pre-existing lines and trains as a result of the diffe

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3rd Generation ICE, the newest high-speed trains in Germany

High-speed rail in Italy
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High-speed rail in Italy consists of two lines connecting most of the countrys major cities. The first line connects Turin to Salerno via Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples, the runs from Turin to Venice via Milan. Trains are operated with a top speed of 300 km/h,25 million passengers traveled on the network in 2011. Passenger service is pro

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ETR 500 Frecciarossa (Trenitalia)

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ETR 1000 Frecciarossa 1000 (Trenitalia)

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AGV 575 Italo (NTV)

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ETR 600 Frecciargento (Trenitalia)

AVE
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Ave is a Latin word, used by the Romans as a salutation and greeting, meaning hail. It is the imperative form of the verb avēre, which meant to be well. The Classical Latin pronunciation of ave was or, in Church Latin, it is ideally, and in English, it tends to be pronounced /ˈɑːveɪ/. The term was used to greet the Caesar or other authorities. Suet

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"HAVE" Mosaic outside the House of the Faun, Pompeii (Have is a spelling variant of Ave).

High-speed rail in the Netherlands
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The Netherlands is connected to the European high-speed rail network with one dedicated high-speed line, HSL-Zuid, and improved traditional rail. Plans for a second dedicated high-speed line, HSL-Oost, have been cancelled, three high-speed train services have operated in the Netherlands, Thalys, InterCityExpress, and Fyra. Thalys started operating

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A Thalys train at Amsterdam Centraal

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A Fyra train in the Dutch countryside

Track gauge
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In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or n

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Indian Narrow and Broad gauge tracks

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Track gauge

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Fish-belly cast-iron rails from the Cromford and High Peak Railway

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An early Stephenson locomotive

Standard gauge
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The standard gauge is a widely used railway track gauge. Approximately 55% of the lines in the world are this gauge, all high-speed rail lines, except those in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Finland, are standard gauge. The distance between the edges of the rails is defined to be 1435 mm except in the United States. It is also called the UIC gauge or UIC

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Track gauge

France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territ

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One of the Lascaux paintings: a horse – Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC

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Flag

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The Maison Carrée was a temple of the Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the Roman Empire.

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With Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the Frankish monarchy, elective and secular until then, became hereditary and of divine right.

High-speed rail
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High-speed rail is a type of rail transport that operates significantly faster than traditional rail traffic, using an integrated system of specialized rolling stock and dedicated tracks. The first such system began operations in Japan in 1964 and was known as the bullet train. High-speed trains normally operate on standard gauge tracks of continuo

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The Tōkaidō Shinkansen high-speed line in Japan, with Mount Fuji in the background

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The German 1903 record holder

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The German Fliegender Hamburger

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Burlington Zephyr passenger train

SNCF
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SNCF is Frances national state-owned railway company and manages the rail traffic in France and the Principality of Monaco. SNCF operates the national rail services, including the TGV. Its functions include operation of services for passengers and freight. SNCF employs more than 180,000 people in 120 countries around the globe, the railway network

Rail transport operations
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A railway has two major components, the rolling stock and the infrastructure. The operation of the railway is through a system of control, originally by mechanical means, signalling systems used to control the movement of traffic may be either of fixed block or moving block variety. Fixed block signalling Most blocks are fixed blocks, i. e. they de

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Two British Rail Class 143 DMUs at Cardiff Queen Street station in the United Kingdom. Both trains are operated by Arriva Trains Wales.

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The Secunderabad Railway Station is one of the busiest stations of Indian Railways

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Freight wagons await unloading

Alstom
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A merger with parts of the General Electric Company plc formed GEC-Alstom in 1989, the company became Alstom in 1998. In 2014, Alstom and General Electric announced that a US$17 billion bid for the power and grid divisions had been made. The GE acquisition deal for the power and grid division was accepted by EU and US anticompetition authorities in

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Alstom headquarters

Turbotrain
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The Turbotrain was any of several French high-speed, gas turbine trains. The earliest Turbotrain entered service in 1967, for use on Frances SNCF intercity lines, there were several versions, four in total, with the last exiting service in 2005, and it is the Turbotrain that made advances possible for the TGV. In 1967, the SNCF converted a 2-car X4

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SNCF 's turbotrain in Houlgate on the Deauville - Dives line.

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Turbotrain at Roanne.

Gas turbine
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A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a turbine. The basic operation of the gas turbine is similar to that of the power plant except that the working fluid is air instead of water. Fresh atmospheric air flows through a compressor that brings it to

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GE H series power generation gas turbine: in combined cycle configuration, this 480- megawatt unit has a rated thermal efficiency of 60%.

1973 oil crisis
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The 1973 oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo occurred in response to United States support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, by the end of the embargo in March 1974, the price of oil had risen from US$3 per barrel to nearly $12 globall

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Gas stealers beware, 1974

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USA oil production and imports. As shown the import spike starts from US peak and the so-called "embargo" almost has no effect.

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Gasoline ration stamps printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 1974, but not used.

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Gas stations abandoned during the crisis were sometimes used for other purposes. This station at Potlatch, Washington was turned into a revival hall.

Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the ar

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In the 1860s Paris streets and monuments were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, making it literally "The City of Light."

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Gold coins minted by the Parisii (1st century BC)

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The Palais de la Cité and Sainte-Chapelle, viewed from the Left Bank, from the Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (month of June) (1410)

Lyon
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Lyon or Lyons is a city in east-central France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, about 470 km from Paris and 320 km from Marseille. Inhabitants of the city are called Lyonnais, Lyon had a population of 506,615 in 2014 and is Frances third-largest city after Paris and Marseille. Lyon is the capital of the Metropolis of Lyon and the region of Auve

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Top, the Basilique de Notre-Dame de Fourvière, the Place des Terreaux with the Fontaine Bartholdi and Lyon City Hall at night. Centre, the Parc de la Tête d'Or, the Confluence district and the old city. Bottom, the Pont Lafayette, the Part-Dieu district with the Place Bellecour in the foreground during the Festival of Lights.

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The lion has been the symbol of the city for centuries and is represented throughout the city.

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Lyon in the 18th century

Marseille
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Marseille, also known as Marseilles in English, is a city in France. Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Massalia, Marseille was the most important trading centre in the region, Marseille is now Frances largest city on the Mediterranean coast and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. The city was European Capital of Culture

Lille
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Lille is a city in northern France, in French Flanders. On the Deûle River, near Frances border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, archeological digs seem to show the area as inhabited by as early as 2000 BC, most notably in the modern-day quartiers of Fives, Wazemmes, and Vieux Lille. The legend of Lydéric and Phinaert

Bordeaux
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Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France. The municipality of Bordeaux proper has a population of 243,626, together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Bordeaux is the centre of the Bordeaux Métropole. With 749,595 inhabitants and 1,178,335 in the area, it is the fifth largest in France, after

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Clockwise from top: Place de la Bourse by the Garonne, Allees du Tourny and Maison de Vin, Pierre Bridge on the Garonne, Meriadeck Commercial Centre, front of Palais Rohan Hotel, and Saint-Andre Cathedral with Bordeaux Tramway

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Coins of the Bituriges Vivisci, 5th–1st century BC, derived from the coin designs of Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul. Cabinet des Médailles.

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Merovingian tremisses minted in Bordeaux by the Church of Saint-Étienne, late 6th century. British Museum.

Strasbourg
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Strasbourg is the capital and largest city of the Grand Est region of France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany in the region of Alsace. In 2014, the city proper had 276,170 inhabitants, Strasbourgs metropolitan area had a population of 773,347 in 2013, making it the ninth largest metro are

Rennes
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Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department, renness history goes back more than 2,000 years, at a time when it was a small Gallic village named Condate. Together with Vannes and Nantes, it wa

Land speed record for railed vehicles
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Determination of the fastest rail vehicle in the world varies depending on the definition of rail. The world record for manned passenger trains is held by the L0 Series, the world record for conventional wheeled manned passenger trains is held by Frances specially tuned TGV. Reduced to three cars with higher voltage, larger wheels and higher-tensio

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Rocket sled that achieved Mach 8.5

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An L0 Series trainset, holding the non-conventional train world speed record of 603 km/h (375 mph)

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TGV 4402 (operation V150) reaching 574.8 km/h (357 mph)

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John Stapp riding a rocket sled at Edwards Air Force Base

LGV Est
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The Ligne à Grande Vitesse Est européenne, typically shortened to LGV Est, is a French high-speed rail line that connects Vaires-sur-Marne and Vendenheim. The line halved the time between Paris and Strasbourg and provides fast services between Paris and the principal cities of eastern France as well as Luxembourg, Germany. The LGV Est is a segment

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LGV Est

Railway Gazette International
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Railway Gazette International is a monthly business journal covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Railway Gazette International traces its history to May 1835 as The Railway Magazine, the Railway Gazette title dates from July 1905, created to cover railway commercial and financial affairs. In April 1914 it merged wi

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Railway Gazette International cover, May 2009

Gare de Champagne-Ardenne TGV
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Champagne-Ardenne TGV is a railway station that opened in June 2007 along with the LGV Est, a TGV high-speed rail line from Paris to Strasbourg. It is located in Bezannes, about five kilometres south of Reims, twenty-seven TGV trains serve the station daily in each direction, for a total of fifty-four trains per day. It is directly connected to the

Shijiazhuang
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Shijiazhuang, formerly romanized Shihkiachwang, is the capital and largest city of North Chinas Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about 263 kilometres southwest of Beijing, Shijiazhuangs total population ranked twelfth in mainland China. Shijiazhuang experienced dramatic growth after the founding of the Peoples Republi

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Shijiazhuang Skyline

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Haze near the Shijiazhuang Wanda Plaza in 2013

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Far view of Shijiazhuang

Zhengzhou
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Zhengzhou is a Chinese city and the provincial capital of Henan Province in east-central China. As a prefecture-level city, it serves as the political, economic, technological. The city lies on the bank of the Yellow River. Zhengzhou has a population of 9,378,000 inhabitants with a population of 6,406,000. Zhengzhou is now a growing city. Greater Z

LGV Sud Europe Atlantique
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The LGV Sud Europe Atlantique, also known as the LGV Sud-Ouest or LGV LOcéane, is a high-speed railway line between Tours and Bordeaux, in France. It will be used by TGV trains operated by SNCF, the French national railway company and it is an extension of the LGV Atlantique. The line was inaugurated on 28 February 2017 and is expected to service o

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TGV Réseau

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Project Map (English/French)

LGV Nord
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The LGV Nord is a French 333-kilometre -long high-speed rail line, opened in 1993, that connects Paris to the Belgian border and the Channel Tunnel via Lille. With a maximum speed of 300 kilometres per hour, the line appreciably shortened rail journeys between Paris and Lille. Its extensions to the north and the south have reduced journey times to

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Eurostar north of Watten.

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A Deutsche Bahn high-speed train

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Veolia's planned use of the AGV train would cut journey times to London

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Spanish AVE train

Thalys
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Thalys is an international high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar trains that go from Paris or Brussels to London via Lille, Thalys serves Amsterdam and Cologne as well. Its system is managed by Thalys International and operated by THI Factory, be

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PBA

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PBKA

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Thalys PBKA at Köln Messe/Deutz station with an Essen-bound train

Eurostar
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Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Avignon, Brussels, Lille, Lyon, Marseille and Paris. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel, the London terminus is St Pancras International, with the other British calling points being Ebbsfleet Int

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Eurostar relocated from Waterloo International station to St Pancras International station in 2007

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A pair of Eurostar trains at the former Waterloo International

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Domestic entrance to Ashford International, since 2007

Tours
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Tours is a city located in the centre-west of France. It is the centre of the Indre-et-Loire department and the largest city in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. In 2012, the city of Tours had 134,978 inhabitants, Tours stands on the lower reaches of the River Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. The surrounding district, the prov

Commuting
–
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between ones place of residence and place of work, or study, and in doing so exceed the boundary of their residential community. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations, even when not work-related, a distinction is also often made between commuters who commute daily

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Commuters on the New York City Subway during rush hour

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Rush hour at Shinjuku Station, Tokyo

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Traffic jam in Baltimore, Maryland

Shinkansen
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The Shinkansen is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by five Japan Railways Group companies. The nickname bullet train is used in English for these high-speed trains. The maximum operating speed is 320 km/h, test runs have reached 443 km/h for conventional rail in 1996, and up to a world record 603 km/h for maglev trains in Apr

Government of France
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The Government of the French Republic exercises executive power. It is composed of a minister, who is the head of government. Senior ministers are titled as Ministers, whereas junior ministers are titled as Secretaries of State, a smaller and more powerful executive body, called the Council of Ministers, is composed only of the senior ministers, th

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Government of the French Republic

Hovercraft
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A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is a craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft are hybrid vessels operated by a pilot as a rather than a captain as a marine vessel. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a volume of air below the hull that is slightly above atmospheric pressure. The

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A Formula 1 racing hovercraft

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Hovercraft.

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A Lithuanian Coast Guard hovercraft with engine off and skirt deflated.

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The same hovercraft with engine on and skirt inflated.

Louis Gallois
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Louis René Fernand Gallois is a French businessman. He was the CEO of EADS, the European aeronautic defense and space company, Gallois was raised in Montauban, where he received his baccalauréat in 1961. After two years of a well-known private prépa school, Sainte-Geneviève, he attended school at HEC. He then went on to ENA, one of the most prestig

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Louis Gallois

Gas turbine-electric locomotive
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A gas turbine - electric locomotive, or GTEL, is a locomotive that uses a gas turbine to drive an electric generator or alternator. The electric current thus produced is used to power traction motors and this type of locomotive was first experimented with during the Second World War, but reached its peak in the 1950s to 1960s. Few locomotives use t

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The cars of a roller coaster reach their maximum kinetic energy when at the bottom of their path. When they start rising, the kinetic energy begins to be converted to gravitational potential energy. The sum of kinetic and potential energy in the system remains constant, ignoring losses to friction.

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Class 319 EMUs ran excursions trips into the tunnel from Sandling railway station on 7 May 1994, the first passenger trains to do so

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Map of the Channel Tunnel

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The Channel Tunnel exhibit at the National Railway Museum in York, England, showing the circular cross section of the tunnel with the overhead line powering a Eurostar train. Also visible is the segmented tunnel lining

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Interior of Eurotunnel Shuttle, a vehicle shuttle train. The largest railway wagon in the world, the shuttle trains transport vehicles between terminals at either end of the tunnel